


For the love of Hades

by ZhangHades



Category: EXO (Band), Lay EXO, Zhang Yixing - Fandom
Genre: Athena is a meany, F/M, Hades is a sweetheart, I am gonna make Poseidon a dick, I really love commas, Love Medusa, Shit story telling, Story swings side to side from plot, major fluff, semi bad grammar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-02-09 12:33:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12887949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZhangHades/pseuds/ZhangHades
Summary: You are the infamous Medusa, the woman who can turn any man, woman, child or creature into stone with a mere glance. A curse put on you by Athena, while your hatred for everything builds, one god sets out to save your soul before you lose it. That god being Hades (aka Zhang Yixing) he being the only god who does not blame you for your curse. Sharing your pain of being betrayed by the very gods meant to protect you, he is determined to save you before it's too late.





	1. Will you take my offer?

It was late, the sun had gone down long ago but that didn't mean anything, the city still stayed alive. Lights turned on and people still moved around like nothing had changed in their lives. It was something to watch them I scuttle around like a bunch of rats in the night. Living their lives as they prayed to and worshiped the gods that didn't care for them. 

"Pathetic" I mumbled, perched up on the ledge of a tall building, they looked like ants from up here. But I could still hear their laughter, their voices as they spoke to one another. Living happy lives I could only dream of and I did, countless times I dreamed of it. Dreamed of how my life could have been if it wasn't for Poseidon and Athena. If it wasn't for the cruel hand I had been dealt with, would I be happy like them?

"Pointless" I told myself, it was all pointless, these countless days blurring into one whole depressing cycle. My life forced to witness everyone else have fun, fall in love and live the life I deserved to have. But I wasn't granted that, so I drowned in my own hatred towards them. How they lived, how they breathed, letting my consuming hatred stretch to the gods. So idiotic, time wasting, throwing lives and goals away for thi- 

My breath was caught in my throat, the smell of violets and ash filled my nose with one gust of wind. Each god had a smell, believe it or not and the only one who smelt like violets and ash was...

"You are a hard woman to find, Medusa" Hades's voice rung out from behind me just now. His voice far sweeter than it should be for the god of the underworld but yet it was sweet. Like silk sheets the mortals would wrap themselves in and I cursed it all. Gods were always so beautiful, appealing to all eyes so they could get what they wanted. Hades was no exception, his voice made my body tense up but I couldn't tell why.

"Is there something I can assist you with, Lord Hades?" I slipped out with a bitter tone in response. My fingers beginning to curl around the edge I had been still sitting on, with my legs dangling over the edge. 

"My love, please..Hades will do just nicely" he said to me, is he mocking me, teasing me maybe? is this all some game to him, of course it had to be right, all the gods do is play games. 

"Then what do you want, Hades?" I spat out, never turning my head to look at the god behind me. Those selfish bastards did not deserve even my glance, they deserved nothing from me. 

"I want to save you, while there is something left to save" Hades replies and it almost sounds genuine. Almost that is but no, I am not an idiot, he is the oldest one of his four brothers and two sisters. But most of all, the one sibling that drove my blood cold, was Poseidon.

"Don't bore me with your fake sympathy, do I look like I need to be saved? Hmm, Lord Hades?" I gritted out. Taking in the deepest breath I could to still my racing heart, banging against my ribs. Why was it racing, why was it deciding now to pick up such speed. Enough of it to leave my hands shaking against the bricks of the building. 

It was only then that I heard a sigh, well this is something new, a god wasting his time enough to sigh. To let out a breath of disappointment, well news flash, I do not live to please the gods. Hades is a god so why would I bother to please such a selfish thing with a pretty face? No I won't, that is what I told myself when my chin started to hang down. Taking in the strength I needed because I will not crumble for him.

"I never approved of what my brother did to you" Hades spoke just as I swore I heard his footsteps. The small clicking of what I assumed to be..dress shoes? He was wearing dress shoes?

"The feeling is mutual" I replied in such bitter obviousness, "or how Athena punished you for it" his words stung. Digging at a wound that was still so fresh because it still affected me to this day. It's not like I can wake up and put this all behind me, it still curses me to this day. 

"Your point is?" I snapped, it caused for the small click of his shoes to stop but I knew he was close. So close he could stretch his arms out and shove me from this very ledge I sat on. It only made my legs start to shake, would this fall kill me, or would it only add to my pain? 

"Let me be the god you run to" Hades breathed out, a puff of air that hit the back of my neck. Brushing against my skin enough to form goosebumps just from his breath alone. I only gripped the bricks tighter, forcing to keep my eyes forward at the city lights. Focusing on the cars racing by, the honks of their horns when they got impatient. 

"Why should it be you?" I only turned my head to the left just by a few centimeters, not nearly enough to look at him. It was just enough that I caught a glimpse of his black clothing. With a flash of a pale hand hanging at his side but that was it for what I saw of him.

"Because, Medusa my dear...I know what it is like to be betrayed" his voice sounded closer than before. Like he had moved without making a single sound in the past few seconds. My body tensing up when I felt something new brush against the back of my neck. It wasn't his breath, but it only took a few seconds for me to realize it had been his nose. The tip of his nose brushing against the back of my neck but I felt no touch of his hands.

"Allow me to mend what my brother has broken, we both could use the company" his voice was right there. Hades was right there, right behind me and I could feel him, I could feel his body's heat. So close, so fucking close, causing my heart to skip out of sheer pain and fear. The old pain and dread filling me as my mind crossed straight to Poseidon.

"Run to me Medusa, run into my-" his voice was cut short as I swung my arm backwards. Swinging as hard as I could, my body twisting around on the edge to face where his voice was coming from. Only to be met with an empty roof and a decent amount of red dust or smoke. Something I am sure was left by Hades but no, no I will not crumble like this. 

I instantly smacked my hand against the spot of my neck where I could still feel the brush of his nose. My nails digging into my own skin like it was possible to scratch the feeling away. I will not give in, I told myself, not even for Hades himself will I give in.

"I will die before I run into the arms of any god" I said it loud enough to where I knew Hades could hear it, wherever he was.


	2. So, you stalk?

It had been a few days since my encounter with Hades and it still rung in my head so clearly. Yet I had no idea what his true intentions were, but it defiantly is not to be my friend. The things about gods is that they are not who the claim to be, not loving or understanding.  

The days still passed the same, I spent most of my time away from every mortal on this planet. Staying in my old cabin in the deep forest, some parts of it were wearing down because of its age. It is such an old home but for the longest time it had been my home. So it tried to keep it up and stable for so long but now it was pointless to even try. So I let it wither, I let the wood break and soften under my feet as time past. The paint peeling so I could see the wall behind the blue paint, the stains of age burned in. 

This is my life, my home, sitting in an empty cabin in the middle of nowhere as I watched time take it away. But it was okay, or at least a little okay, something I grew use to all by mself. Listening to the birds in the trees as I sat on the back porch, or what was left of it. Twirling an apple in my hand, with such a nice red color, something to focus on.

Until I grew bored, until my anger re-hit me and I crushed the only thing that was making me feel better. A waste of a good apple, yet another reason to hate everything on this world. Just plain bitter me fussing over everything, get a hold of yourself. That is what I tell myself, every day I say things like that to get myself calm. Wiping my hand clean on my jeans, pressing my palm against my knee. Letting myself sit in my self hate until I decided it was time for a walk, yes to clear my senses. 

Leaving my withered home, I walked into a nearby small town with quiet towns people in it. Ones that did not bother me, so I did not bother them, it is peaceful here in this town. The streets filled up with simple folk, always nice to wave to me as I passed. I returned the gesture every time to be nice, putting on a nice smile when I could. 

"Morning" a woman smiles as she waves, "like wise" I mumbled back with a small twitch of my fingers. It wasn't really a wave but it was still something, it got her to look like it made her happy. 

But even with my small stroll, I could still feel something itching at the back of my neck. Making the hairs stand up and now matter how much I scratched it, it did not fade. I was being followed, why else would I feel this way, something or someone was tailing me. As I walked through the mini market, passing the fruits and the vegetables. 

Running my fingers along side the edges of the tables and a few baskets, my glasses making it a bit dark. Sometimes I had to squint my eyes to properly see but above all I could not take them off. As much as I wanted to, I reluctantly pushed them up further on my face. Tapping my fingertips against the side as I slowed down my steps. Because I could feel him getting closer, I could hear those dress shoes and smell those violet ashes.

"So.." I breathed out, "Lord Hades stalks, is that it?" it didn't take a genius to know it was. My fingers slipping from the table, I could see his figure and those stupid dress shoes. I just refused to look at his face, I didn't want to take the chance of falling for some pretty looks.

"I wouldn't call it stalking" he says without hesitation, "more like, watching over someone who is dear to me" oh I could hit him. Someone dear to me, did he really think I would buy into that bullshit? 

"If it's one sided, it's stalking" I bit out, my teeth clicking together, there had been too many people here to do anything. Maybe if we had been alone, I could chance turning him into stone. Take of my glasses and see if it could work, would I be able to turn a god into stone? 

"Fair enough" Hades admitted, "I am stalking you" at least he knew when to admit his actions. It didn't matter to me though, he can admit and play nice all he wants, it changes nothing. 

"Good boy, you can admit when you do something wrong" I rolled my eyes, a little hiss in the base of my throat. Letting my feet move again to get myself walking in the store, save on standing still. Drawing attention to myself by staying like some statue in the middle of this market.

"Now leave me alone" I snapped my fingers, like he could vanish like some magic trick and that be it. That is what I hoped but his shoes told me something else, the little clicking of them. He was still right there, a few steps behind me but never getting closer than that.

"Who made those glasses for you?" here comes the questions, Hades's curiosity biting at his bones. Hopefully it was hurting him, not knowing things, I hope it tortured him.

"Your brother" I shrugged my shoulders, "Medua, please love" Hades made another unpleasant sound. Something like the sigh he made the first time he blessed me with his presence on the roof. Oh all of this just irritated me, leaving me wincing enough to make it painful.

"Don't call me love" I hissed louder this time, the burning sensation to turn him into a statue growing. My nails digging into my palms the more the seconds passed between us.

"Sweetheart?" that fucker.

"My darling?" I'll kill him.

"Honey?" slit his throat.

"Mon Cheri?" he's a dead man.

"Enough!" I groaned out, raising my voice enough that it drew a few people's attention to us. Their heads turning but other than that they didn't pay much attention to either of us. We probably looked like some couple fighting, the thought of that had my gut twisting. 

"You are really starting to get on my nerves" I could feel my patience growing thin with him. My self control draining as I forced myself to turn around, to spin around on my heels. Forcing myself to face him even though a big part of me screamed not to. Yelling at me not to but I did, I made myself look at him, to look at his face. Just to met with a pale face, smooth skin and black hair, gentle looking features. 

But his eyes stood out the most, those golden eyes of a god, even with my glasses I could still see it. I could see his golden eyes shinning, and it confused me, with his figure and eyes. I found myself looking from left to right, why hadn't these people seen him? Why hadn't they been dropping to their knees or doing something else pathetic?

"Don't worry love, they can't see the gold eyes" Hades doused my question, "I am only allowing you to" he pointed to me. His index finger of his left hand pointing towards my chest with his final words. 

"Don't I feel special" I sighed, breathing out a puff of air while I wrapped my jacket tighter around me. Even zipping it up when I felt exposed from a simple point of his finger, making me feel small. But somehow when I zipped my jacket, the feeling faded just a bit. 

"You should, I wouldn't do this for anyone else" Hades said, it was almost believable, him being sincere. Yet that is what his kind did best. sounding so nice and caring, all games to them. 

"Find someone else, anyone else" I looked away, "I don't care who, just not me" I didn't want it to be me. Let him get bored and choose someone else, some mortal that would be more than willing. Fall for his pretty face and that sweet voice, anyone or anything but me.

"Medusa" Hades spoke, his voice laced with something I couldn't exactly put my finger on. Something I tried to figure out, something I tried to wrap my head around the best I could. 

"Hades" I had to distance myself, moving my feet a little faster to get myself out of the market. Passing a few people that nicely moved out of my way, I only bumped into one. That was only because I hadn't given one of them enough time to move out of the way.

Anything to get some distance from him, but I could still hear those shoes not far behind me. That annoying tapping, one by one until it was all I could hear, filling my ears. My nails only pressing more into my skin until I swore I could feel them breaking my skin. The people around me did not see my irritation, they did not care to noticed him. 

Why did it have to be me, couldn't they just leave me alone, hadn't I suffered enough to please them. Why must they keep finding new ways to pick and pry at me until I shatter. Until I what, got down on my knees and prayed to them for what, to have my eyes back? Or would it just to see me fall, anything to see me shatter like glass. 

Stop following me, I screamed in my own head, leave me alone, why did he have to pretend like this? Why did he have to possess a smell like this, what was his fascination with dress shoes? Could they be any louder, please just stop following me, go away, go away.

"STOP!" I yelled out, spinning myself around in a bit of anger, "LEAVE ME ALO-" there was nothing. Well no, not exactly, I was standing in the middle of the street surrounded by people. Men, women and children who all stared at me while I was left to stare at that red smoke. For the second time in this week, I was left with nothing but red smoke in his absence.


	3. Twisted words

Hades didn't leave me alone, just another god that did not know what the word 'no' meant. He may have thought he was doing it to help me but it didn't matter, no means no. But then again, when did a no stop a god right, he was just wearing me down. Because he had found my house, thanks to him following me, Hades knew where I was staying.

How did I know that he was here? 

Well when I got home last night, the withered house was no longer falling apart on me. It looked brand new with a new paint color, it looked like it had been made just that day. I knew it was him, who else could it be, my heart practically stopped beating. Maybe to someone else it would have been a nice gesture but to me, it did not feel like that. Because now he knew where I lived, so that meant the other gods did too right? All these years with certain spells and tricks to stay hidden, completely ruined.

That night I sat in my new home, on a comfy couch, my house filled with pretty paint, nice floors. Furniture I could sit on without coughing up a storm from the dust that would fly out. I actually leaned back and was met with soft cushions instead of decaying fabric. 

My house didn't smell like ash, dust or rotting insects, it actually smelt nice and no longer freezing. With the house completely back up in shape, the warmth of the house stayed inside. All of this made my gut twist, the bile filling up in my throat in my beautiful home. Half of me wanted to tell him to take it all back, return my crumbling house. While the other half of me screamed to just keep it, accept this gift. Just because I keep this, it didn't mean I was giving in, I wasn't accepting anything from him.

That is what I told myself, over and over as I walked around the house, viewing all the new things. New furniture, a new table, dishes in the cupboards, food in the fridge. Blankets on the only bed in the house, clean clothes in a dresser and closet. Shoes by the front door, towels in the bathroom, with a brand new bathtub. Shampoo, conditioner and bodywash of all sorts, anything and everything one would need. 

I hate him, I loathe him.

All he was trying to do was to get me to bend over backwards and give him what he wanted. Which was what exactly, my faith, my loyalty, for me to run into his arms when I got scared? What exactly did he really want from me, oh it completely did my head in. It only made me despise them more, for thinking that doing this would make me forget? 

My hatred boiling more the second I heard someone knocking on my newly made door by Hades. By the god who needed to get a new pet, my teeth gritting to together as I made my way down. Storming out of the shiny bathroom, worthy of a spot in Olympus. Stomping my feet down the steps as a few more light knocks radiated on that door. I will let him know that it needs to stop, just take it all back, I didn't want any of this.

"Look, just leave me alone!" I hissed out as soon as I threw the door open, hard enough for it to whip back. The handle smacking against the wall, I wasn't sure if it left a dent but I didn't care. I had to let him know that presenting flashy gifts wouldn't get him anywhere. But it wasn't Hades, my heart jerked in my chest, it wasn't him at all.

"So, it is true, Hades has found a disgusting and worn down toy"

Athena, it was Athena, he had sold me out, Hades had brought her straight to my door. Was I angry, was I shaking out of anger or was it fear that struck me when we made eye contact. I had only ever met her once, I only met Athena on the day she set this curse on me. 

"What do you want now?" I spoke through the way my body shook, making sure to clench my fists. Dig my nails into my skin to remind myself not to look frail in front of her, not for a second. 

"I come in peace" Athena mocked, her golden eyes doing nothing but judging everything about me. Her blonde hair tied up into a bun with braids in it, looking all god like in her perfect form. 

"Do you ever?" I said, the obvious discomfort even heard in my voice but she chose to ignore it. Why would she care now if she made me uncomfortable, she hadn't before. But honestly, I was actually thanking someone for it to be her instead. I found myself thanking Zeus that it had been Athena at my door and not Poseidon. 

"Oh, it was centuries ago, stop holding this grudge" Athena rolled her eyes, passing my pain off as nothing. Because to her my pain did mean nothing, my pain meant nothing to no one. 

"Fuck you" I spat out, my nails digging further into my palms, the stinging sensation of my nails breaking my skin. My anger finally giving me my strength back, finally making my back straighter.

"What did you just say?" Athena's attitude changed, her voice growing darker in a matter of seconds. The air around us growing colder and I knew I had just made her angry. So why not rub salt into the wound right, dig it in deeper, never bow down to her.

"I said" I brought my eyes up to look at her, "fuck y-" and just like that, the air was knocked out of my lungs. Athena stretched out her arm and my feet left the floor as I had been flung back. Going back a few feet before my back hit a wall, if it was the rotting walls it wouldn't have been bad. It wouldn't have hurt so much but it was brand new with new wood. New nails and beams, hitting my back and my head smacking against it too.

My sight blurring for a few seconds as my knees hit the floorboards, my hands doing the same. My muscles burning and shaking from the pain that shot through every inch of me. The air was struggling to get back in my lung, it was difficult to get it back. But I did, I got each breath back with each intake I did, it was difficult but not impossible.

"Listen here, you disgusting snake" Athena sounded livid, "you do not-" I couldn't help but laugh. A loud laugh slipping through my lips because honestly, I couldn't help myself. My chest heaving a bit with loud squeaky gasps following after each one.

"Snake?" I sat back on my knees, "you have no idea" because you made me this way Athena. You created this disgusting snake and now you can't even look at me without looking sick. 

Athena laughed back at me, "do you honestly think he cares about you? Hades?" she spat out. Her teeth starting to grind as her pretty hands curled into fists like she wanted to kill me. Oh she looked like she wanted my head to be ripped off my shoulders. 

"Why would he waste his time with you?" she said what I thought, what I believed to be true. It's not like I thought for one second what Hades was showing was actually sincere. He was playing me but did Athena know that, if she did, why would she be here?

"And yet, he is still wasting his time with me" I said what I believed would get under her skin. What would drive her insane, because she drove me insane, so I had to repay her. Give her the same kindness she was so willing to give me for no reason at all.

"He's been stalking me, all week, calls me love..rebuilt my home and also, oh and don't forget..Hades has begged me a few times too" anything to get under her skin right? Letting my voice stay strong or at least a little strong, keeping the shakiness out of it just a little bit. 

Athena's face grew colder, her eyes becoming darker even with the gold right in them. Her arms flexing like she wanted to rip my head off, I knew she wanted to kill me. Then, why didn't she, what was stopping her exactly, from taking my life?

"Medusa, please love" I repeated the exact words he said to me, those pretty words he tried to smooth me over with. Because that is all they were, words smoothed over to make me crumble for him. Nothing but pretty words from a pretty face, I knew better than all of this.

"I think he likes me" but did he, did he really, that is what I asked myself even as those words left my mouth. Were all these just lies or did they have some truth to them, they probably didn't.

"Don't fool yourself sweetheart" Athena corrected my words, "no one likes to have what someone else has tainted" she spat. Hitting what was left of my pride, which wasn't much to begin with. Turn my head to the side in my own disgust, memories I could never forget. 

"If you would leave, I would like to relax" I didn't feel like being thrown again, so I bit my tongue. Silencing anything that would result in Athena finding a new wall to throw me to. I honestly wasn't sure I would survive another, so I did not allow another insult to slip through.

"Of course, how rude of me" Athena was mocking me, it was simple to see but it didn't feel any good. Didn't hurt less as she closed my door to leave me in my perfect house that had been built on twisted words.


	4. Oh?

I could feel a bruise forming on my back, that pinching and sore pain that riddled through my muscles. Even though it had been a few days since Athena's visit, I was still in pain. My back still throbbing while, wouldn't chance have it, Hades still followed me. I could feel him at times throughout the day, feel him nearby or watching. Any time I went out, any time I left my house, he was right there, I knew he was.

He had to know about Athena, it had to be common sense, after all he was the one who brought her to me. So I had to move, didn't I, I stayed there because I assumed it was safe. Silly me to think I would be able to hide at all, but I really did hope it was possible. 

Yet with each passing moment, I didn't know what to call the feelings that was building under my skin. Was it pity for myself, depression sinking deeper or was it anger rising again? 

One thing I am sure of, I do not trust Hades.

The worst thing I could give him is my trust, just so it can be shoved back in my face without hesitation. Only for it to hurt far more because I had let myself believe in such a lie yet again. 

Keep your strength, that is what I have to keep saying.

Don't be such a fool, keep your back to him, don't even let him think that you can tell he's there. Following me through countless stores and streets alike, one thing for certain, he was determined. Maybe he had never been told no in his life, so he couldn't understand the rejection. Oh I told myself that line enough time that even I was starting to get annoying.

Today would mark the fourth day in a row after my ruined house was fixed that Hades was here. I had even tried to slip into a restaurant to get away from him, scurrying myself to a table. One in the back of the restaurant, one where I was certain that he would give up. But even then I could feel his gaze, as a nice waitress without a care in the world. A pretty face with pretty eyes, a gentle smile and not to mention, pretty name.

Michelle.

Such a pretty name, a lot better than Medusa, and for some reason it just made things seem better. Maybe people told her this all the time but she had this aroma about her, an innocence. Something I once possessed, with pretty curly natural red hair falling to her shoulders. Freckles scattered on the top of her cheeks and by far the bluest eyes I have ever seen.

"Would you like a menu, Matty?" oh yeah, to this town my name is Matty, can't tell everyone my real one. If this town were to find out what I really was, I am sure they would chase me out with pitchforks. 

"No thank you, just the usual for me" I breathed out, my chest slumping a little bit with it. Everyone in town knew of 'Matty' the woman who never took off her sunglasses. Not even if the sun was down, plenty of rumors had spread that maybe I was blind at first. Though that one died real quick when it was obvious that I wasn't. Now it was just Matty who really liked her glasses and I am okay with that one.

"Okay, and if you need anything..let me know" Michelle sported her usual smile, her freckles coming out more. Making her look younger than she really was and she was off, like a little rocket. Off to the back to tell the people in the kitchen my usual order, since my tastes never changed. 

I am a consistent little shit, ordering the same thing on repeat to the point where I am not given a menu anymore. Oh I was an open book, I liked routine, a certain time for everything to be in place. Now did I have to add 'stalked by Hades' into my routine or what? His gaze was still on me and with one turn of my head I got to see him right there. A few tables behind me, sitting alone and facing in my direction too.

He made no effort in hiding that he was watch- did he just wave at me, like hold the phone, really? Yes he actually just waved, his fingers wiggling while he made a smile appear with it. Just enough for the indents of little dimples appear in his cheeks alongside it. His eyes closing with this smile of his, like it was supposed to melt my heart. 

No, it didn't effect me at all, I felt nothing and I feel nothing still, he can wave all he likes. I will not fall for it, he brought Athena to my door, he made her...

Why am I still alive, that is what I should be asking, not staring at Hades trying to be cute. Well okay he is being cute, by far one of the cutest things I have ever seen a grown man do. Just no, no no no, I looked away, forcing my head to turn the other way. So I could stare at a wall like a fool and contemplate my life like some depressed teen. Why did she not kill me, she has more than enough strength to do it. A flick of wrist, a twitch of her finger and that would be it, so why not? Why am I still here if she found me, did she just want to watch my continuing spiral? 

Whatever he was trying to show, was it real or was it all a part of this game that he was playing. Was he the only player, did this game have others, he and Athena working together. So that when this all crumbled she could tell me how she was right after all. Using the line 'I told you so' just to rub it in more and why wouldn't she? She has done so much worse to me, why would she draw the line at mock-

"Here you are" Michelle's voice blurted it as I yelled, "sweet Zeus!" oh yes, she scared the life out of me. I didn't mean to yell but Michelle seemed to take it as a joke or completely funny.

"I'm so sorry" she smiled to me as she set my plate and drink down, her hand lifting up to cover her mouth. She is defiantly laughing at me and how she was able to make my life flash before my eyes. Yet when she laughed at me, it didn't hurt as bad to hear Athena's laughter.

"Are you?" I clutched at my chest, "I don't think you are" she defiantly wasn't sorry with that smile. Laughing at my pain and yet, this type of laughter was just fine with me. Let more to come right, oh she is the reason why I keep coming back to this place. She reminds me of myself before I lost everything that made me, well...me.

"You are so right, I am not sorry" she instantly replied, "your pain keeps me young and beautiful" Michelle flipped her hair. That cocky hair flip girls did, I could only roll my eyes from it but yet, I am smiling.

"Well I am glad to be of service" my comment brought a whole new smile, back to that innocent one. The sweet one she probably used to get the boys to crumble and give her hefty tips. 

"As you should be, peasant" Michelle patted the top of my head, just two pats as she walked away. Of course she had a job to do, other orders to take so our banter had to stop. I let her leave, she isn't my friend but she is more than a faceless waiter to me.

Does that make sense?

It does to me, she means nothing to me but she is more than anyone who has ever meant anything. Pathetic right, it had to be, it was to me, I irritated myself more than anyone ever did. Because I can't run from myself, I am always right here and I absolutely hate it. 

Anyway, let it go to eat, that is what I did, even with the undying gaze I could feel, I ate. I didn't eat it all, I wanted to but I was left to pick at it because the gaze never stopped. No one in their right mind could eat if someone was staring at them. 

My apatite drained too fast, far quicker than I was able to eat and I hated it all so much. I hated too many things, if I found something I actually liked, the underworld would freeze over. 

I was left to click my fork against my plate, a few dozen times, over and over to bring out the annoying song. It didn't take a genius to know that he was still looking, seeing my struggle so clearly. That feeling of eyes drilling into the back of my head, watching every move. An itch forming at the back of my throat, little by little until it hurt to swallow. Until I had been fidgeting in my seat like some idiot I wanted to hit. All of it adding up until I gritted my teeth, a snake like hiss spilling from my lips.

"For the love of Kronos, just sit down" I didn't have to look at him, I motioned to seat opposite of me. On the other side of me, using the name of the titan that did try to kill him was a bit cruel. Using the name of his father that tried to eat him, kind of a low blow. But hey, it is about time the gods got the attitude they dealt given right back to them. 

Once those worse left, I did not have to wait long, a few little clicks of those dress shoes and there he was. Sitting down in the seat right across from mine, getting a perfect view of him now. The smile was back, along with those dimples as he almost looked at ease. Like some weight off his shoulders had been instantly lifted just now.

"Here I was losing hope" Hades said so happily and I instantly regretted it, "on second thought, go back" abort mission. Call off the troops, I just remembered that he annoyed the shit out of me.

"Ouch, my heart" Hades placed his hand over his heart, fingertips curling in a bit slightly with it. As he played with the role of getting his feelings hurt, but it almost seemed playful. Like he was joking with me, like we were friends or something of that sort. 

"You would have to possess one in the first place" I found myself saying under my breath. Without really thinking about it, actually I didn't think about it at all, it just slipped out. 

"Hurtful" yet that didn't tarnish his smile, he still looked to be having the time of his life. It made me want to hit him more, could I hit him or would my hand explode on contact? Maybe break instead or would he just stop me before I could even get that close. 

"You should feel hurt, for the pain you have caused me" don't forget that he brought Athena to me. Don't forget that Medusa, he is the reason why Athena has found you yet again. That pretty smile or cute laugh could not hide his actions against you as he pretended to care. Let him see what he has done, let Hades know that you wouldn't crumble.

"Sorry, love?" Hades's smile faded, "I'm afraid I don't understand, I have never laid a finger on you" he looked confused. He actually looked like I confused him, he even looked slightly hurt. He had the nerve to play it off like I hurt him, oh he was just like the rest of them.

"You don't have to touch someone to hurt them" I hissed out, "you know exactly what you did" because he did. He could not be this naïve to think I would not put the pieces together. He was just stupid for thinking I wouldn't let it click in my head, he was no better than them. 

"If this is because of...the stalking" Hades's frowned worsened, "I just...really want to help you" he was addressing something new. A subject that was no where near the one where I almost got my back broken. The look on his face almost made me feel sorry, it almost made me feel guilty. 

"Just give me the chance to-" I stopped him, lifting my hand up for him to stop and thankfully, he did. He clamped his mouth shut with a pretty loud click, he was lying, he is lying to me. That is all people do, mortals and gods alike, no one was ever different.

"You and Athena are so much alike, a match made in Olympus" the bile was building in my throat. Bringing the feeling that I needed to throw up, it was getting so vivid that I was sure I would.

"Athena?" the confusion left him, "what did she say?" now it was anger that spilled into his features. He no longer looked like a kicked puppy, he looked ready to rip someone's head off. But he was only angry that he got caught, angry that Athena spilled the beans.

"The truth" I needed to leave, run far away from him, so I did, I made sure to leave money on the table. Paying for my meal as I stood right up, only sparing a second to push in my seat. Pushing it a bit too hard for it to smack into the table but I could have cared less. Letting it hit the table, turning on my heel but unfortunately I got only one step in. 

One step towards my freedom before I felt the sensation of a hand clamping down on my arm. Fingers curling around my arm, fitting perfectly around it and like a vise to hold me. A grasp I knew I couldn't free myself from, I would break my arm if I tried. He was holding me back, Hades had his hand on my arm, refusing to let me leave.

"Did she touch you?" his voice sounded different, it sounded deeper than it had ever sounded for me. Sounding something that a demon would possess but then again, he was called Hades for a reason.

"Why do you care?" I did not make myself look at him, I didn't have the strength to look at him. It is not because I am weak, I just didn't want to look him in the eye more than I already have. So it was the floor I looked to, staring down to the tiles beneath my feet.

"Because I do, you may not believe what I say but it does not make my words any less true" his voice softened. Returning to the one he had used before with me, back to sounding like a sweet man. A voice he expected me to fall for, I just can't let myself be drawn in so easily. Even with his words I felt my head dropping, my chin tilting down ever so little. My voice long gone, taken from me in this moment to leave me as a mute. 

"She isn't allowed to touch you, none of them are" Hades filled the silence, his grasp on me loosening. With every little twitch of his fingers, bit by bit until I felt my arm dropping back to my side.

"I warned every single one of them,.." Hades took in a breath, "if they dared to lay a finger on you.." his hand returned. This time it did not grip my arm, his fingers did not curl to hold me in place. His hand only rested against my sleeve, almost light enough that I could barely feel it.

"I would bring Olympus to its knees".


	5. Liar

"I would bring Olympus to its knees". 

So he was really a liar, just like the rest of them, such a shame too but really was it a shame at all. The bile bit back harder with words I had to chock up as nothing but another lie. 

"You don't have to lie to me" I made myself say, "don't you have an underworld to run?" anything to get him to leave. Removing my arm from his grasp, barely a pull to get it free from him. Unlike the earlier hold, I was able to walk away and that is exactly what I did. I walked away, knowing full well that Hades must have wanted me to stay. I just had to get to get myself away from him, he was lying and it was obvious. Hades wouldn't even bother Olympus but he assumed me to be stupid. He expected me to be an idiot and believe the bullshit he was spewing right out. 

"Believe what I say" Hades's voice was still in that gentle tone, even as my feet pulled me further and further away from him. I still heard it so clearly, the desperation in his voice just from the mere thought that I did not believe him. Who would believe such a far fetched idea of bringing Olympus down just because a god was rude to me? Who and why would someone believe that, why was it so dire for me to believe it, wasn't he getting sick of this game?

"Is that a demand?"

"A plea"

I stopped, just for a second in my retreat, he was convincing I would give him that, he knew his way around with words. If I hadn't known any better I would really believe all of this, but he was being like this to get something out of me. Some people are only nice to you if they think they can get something out of you, or if they are. The gods were just the same, no exception, they did things like this too, they can't be ruled out of that.

"You are wasting your time"

"Am I?"

"Yes"

I picked my feet back up, with my back still towards him, still refusing to give Hades more than a glance at one time. I left him standing there because that is what a liar deserves, he deserves to down in his words. I felt no sympathy, no feeling to run back and apologize struck me a single bit, because I didn't care. 

Even with his gaze still on me, I left the restaurant without one passing glance to him. Without a single glance to anywhere else but directly in front of me, sticking my chin up to keep my dignity. Also to keep my sanity because damn, I almost could have believed him. How foolish of me, well it won't happen again with him, not with anyone.

I left him.

I left Hades.

I rejected a god for the second time and it felt great, rejecting Hades was soon becoming my favorite thing. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I walked straight home with a jump in my step. Enjoying the fresh air and the nice birds, boy I loved everything for a few minutes. Even being dumb enough to hum myself a little tune, I felt powerful.

Oh did I feel powerful, I felt like nothing could touch me and in my head at the moment, nothing could. It felt great with no gaze, no dress shoes following me home or anything. I was able to make it into my home and close the door, locking it up nicely. Bringing some sense of safety, yes a small part of me thanked Hades for the new home. But I am not a complete idiot, Athena had a point, why waste time with me? 

Either way or for whatever reason, I wouldn't let him even get close enough to waste a single moment with me. No I would not allow myself to think twice, stay strong, I told myself, stay strong.

But I let my mind wander, I let it seep into every corner as I decided to take a bath to cool my nerves. Being stalked does raise the blood presser, regardless of the pretty face. So I rounded some up clean clothes, sitting on the side of the new tub as I ran some water. Getting it at the right warmth, plugging the tub up to let the water rise. Going as far as to pour some bubble bath in the water, because why not.

"He's confusing" I spoke to the water like it could talk back or at least listen to my useless rambling. Yet even though it would have been nice, it didn't speak a single word back to me. It only kept filling up, rising up more and more until it filled the tub up completely. Only then did I cut off the water, leaving myself back in silence all alone. 

A peaceful silence, it didn't bother me, I welcomed it as I removed my clothes and glasses. Setting my clothes in the basket while my glasses went on the sink counter by it. Why wear them in my own house, well of course I didn't, it was my little safe haven. Letting my eyes adjust to the sun, sliding into the water and bubbles, something I missed. It was nice, a blissful feeling while I laid back, taking a moment to put my hair up. Tying it in a bun to get to it later, for now I needed to relax and I did. Letting my back slump back, resting my head back until it rested on the edge. Submerging myself in to where my shoulders and head was the only thing to be seen. 

"I wonder if I annoy him" it was thought, someone would get annoyed after awhile of this right? I must have struck some nerve after so long of his attempts, I would even get annoyed. 

"He's insane" I felt a bit guilty, doing this to him when he had done nothing to me, nothing at all. He had been hurt by the gods who were supposed to be his family, betrayed in a way. If someone were to send me to the underworld to live there for all eternity. Where the only company I would get would be of the dead, would that be being betrayed? Yeah, sure I think I would count that of being slapped in my face by family. Yet that changed nothing, just because he has been through some trouble. Some heartbreak, that did not mean our situation would change for the slightest. 

"Just give up, Lord Hades".


	6. Slice of a nightmare

"Medusa"

"Medussa"

"Medu-"

"-sssaaa.."

The voice started to warp, twisting and turning to make it sound less human the more it repeated my name. Starting off as some woman's voice, was it actually mine, saying my own name? My own voice playing in my mind, the only thing I could hear playing in my ears.

"Medussssssssa"

No, that is not me, it didn't even sound human anymore, the female tone of it long gone now. Only the overbearing hissing ringing in both of my ears loud enough to make my skin crawl. Goosebumps forming fast enough to be painful, to leave my body jerking a few times.

Something wrapping around my throat, coiling slowly around my flesh and it felt so real. Going around my neck like a scarf but I could feel it breathe against my skin as it did. Resting heavily on my throat and under it to wrap completely around my neck. My fingers already curling into the sheets under me but I couldn't move. My hands barely moved enough to cling to the sheets, my body was completely useless. 

"-sssssssssssssssssaaaa"

My own name still being said into my ears as the pressure on my throat started to get worse. Pressing down harder with each breath I took, each gasp I made, the more air I lost. My chest heaving up in a panicked manner, anyone would panic if they couldn't breathe. The pressure kept adding and soon enough, I wasn't taking in any air.

My throat beginning to burn with a tightening feeling in my chest filling my mind to add to my panic. The pain in my chest and the dryness in my throat spilled into my head at such force. Like being hit with a car, it struck me and it left me into a sobbing mess as the seconds passed. All too slowly as my lungs began to burn from the lack of air being brought in.

1...2...3...4...5......

The seconds passing like years as the tears stung my eyes, my body filled with pain from every inch. Even my toes had been sending painful sensations and it was obvious now.

I can't breathe.

I'm not taking air in.

This is my end.

With my heart racing, it was the only thing I could hear, my own heart pounding against my rib cage. I could feel it in my fingertips, my body jerking with every pump of my heart.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

"-sssssssssssssaaaaaa"

"Meeedduusssssssssssssaaaa"

"Medu-"

...

...

...

"Medusa, this isn't real!"

A different voice?

"Medusa, open your eyes!"

Where is the hissing?

"Medusa, PLEASE!"

Hades?....

"MEDUSA!!"

Ha-

"FUCKING BREATHE!!"

A loud slap echoed through my ears as this stinging pain filled the side of my face, but it was real. Feeling the palm and fingers slam against my skin, oh it hurt, by Kronos did it hurt. But most of all it was real, real, real, the pressure vanished as the real stinging hit me. My lungs opening and finally, oh finally did the air fill into them, bringing a whole new pain. An aching pain, a whole new stinging sensation, leaving my body shaking. My chest heaving all over again but at least I could feel the air going in. 

My eyes opening to fill my senses in, I was in the living room, on my back since it was the ceiling that first cleared in. As the air painfully filled me, I got to see my own ceiling but not just that. Something in the corner of my eye caused my head to turn, and there he was. 

Hades.

Right there, right in my sight as he had been on his knees, Hades was actually on his knees. His face so close, too close but I felt no urge to pull away from the look on his face. His eyes showed something that I had never seen from a god, fear, they showed fear. In those golden eyes, Hades looked like he was scared out of his mind. 

Should I be screaming, telling him to leave, even if I should, my energy had been drained from me. All the remaining of it was being used to keep me breathing, loud breathing filling the room. Because he was silent, Hades had become like a mime, silent with that scared look on his face.

But wait...

He hit me, Hades hit me..

"You..hit-" even speaking burned my throat, "I'm sorry" Hades was quick to throw in his two words. Things people said to make themselves feel less guilty, that was it, right?...

"I didn't...I couldn't...breathing...you weren't...breath-" Hades stopped, his voice cutting off so sharp. Like someone switching off a light, someone closing a door or turning off a TV. Just like that, his voice was gone, like it had never started in the first place. 

"I promised to never hurt you, and I have" the way his voice shook before was long gone now. His tone was new but it didn't shake, he wasn't angry, it wasn't that growling tone. It wasn't that kind one he liked to use, this one sounded more, well more broken. Like this is the tone he used to talk to himself when no one was around to hear. 

Sounding like the voice of a broken man that no longer even looked at my face, let alone my eyes. Hades had been staring at my floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world. He could have burned holes into the wood from how long he was invested in it.

"Hades.." his name spilled from me but it didn't seem to phase him, matter to him or did he even hear it? His eyes barely blinked when I did, maybe he was lost in his own mind. Like his thoughts were doing the same to him that mine liked to do all the time. 

"Sorry, I'm sorry..so sorry" Hades spoke again, pulling himself from his knees, standing right up then. Still he didn't look at me, was it because he was ashamed, guilty maybe? Was it guilt that made him unable to look me in the eyes, but most of all.

Was any of this sincere?

Was this real, or just a trick?

People can fake anything, a smile, a laugh, a frown and even tears, anything that can be sincere. Can also be turned into lies and if by the right person, they can be faked flawlessly. Was it real, the way he refused to look at me or the tear that slipped down his face. 

He's leaving, he's walking away, Hades is turning his back to me and for some reason. My heart plummeted, it actually dropped because I knew that this would be the last time I saw him. Right, he would leave and never come back, so I did something new. Something I swore to never do, I reached out for him, my hand shooting out. 

Digging my fingers into his sleeve, catching him in mid-turn I latched onto Hades's right arm. His shoes squeaking against the floor but he stopped, I got him to stop before he could leave. Yet he still refused to look at me, his head turned in the opposite direction.

"Medusa, let go" Hades spoke nicely but it was obvious that he had just given me an order. He actually expected me to let go, did he forget just how stubborn I am in these few minutes?

"Why?"

"Because, I-"

"Not that" I cut him off, "why did you save me, you could have let me suffocate but you didn't..so why?" so what if he felt guilty. Everyone has something to be guilty for, his guilts did not make him special. It just made him like the rest of us with his own issues playing in his head. 

"Because,..I need you"


	7. Why?

My brain rattled in my head, skidding to a screeching halt like tires would do on the road. Leaving my thoughts spinning in circles to catch up to the sudden brakes applied. My face blank as I tried to see it, tried to see anything of what he had just said to me.  

Me, Medusa, some disgusting creature that should just get my head cut off before I caused more trouble. Being described as some beast, centuries of insults and curses put upon my name. All that I had accepted after so long of trying to fight it, I had given in. But it looked like Hades was the only one not to, even being stronger than me against it. 

The great Gods were the first ones to spread the rumors, tales of my disgusting figure and looks. Making children afraid to speak my name in fear that I would turn them to stone. Using my legend to bring chills down the spine, saying it around the campfire. Each one of them forgetting that I had once been human, just like them. Forgetting that it wasn't my fault for what I am now, refusing to blame the Gods who caused it. 

Just blaming me, the victim...

"I need you, Medusa" Hades took my silence as a chance to speak again, his head barely turning in my direction. Refusing to meet my gaze because he was still guilty, over some little hit? Some smack to the face, that was nothing, I had been dealt so much worse. Being hit wasn't even cracking that iceberg, the pain was just another tally mark.

"Why?" I spoke the only thing I could think of, the only thing I needed to be explained to me. I needed to know why, why would anyone bother with me now after this long. So long of being on my own and hated, why now, why did he wait centuries to find me? Why couldn't he have found me sooner, maybe I wouldn't be so broken. I wouldn't be so bitter but no, just like the rest of him, he had some horrible timing. 

Now with the words out in the open, he had yet to give me my answer, his voice getting stuck in his throat. Even mine was getting to the point of being nonexistent, as if I never had one to begin with. 

But as it seemed to turn into years, yes I exaggerate, it felt like years before Hades moved his figure. Turning himself around to face me, even with my grip still on his sleeve he still moved. Eyes lifting from the floor, slowly lifting to mine to actually look at me. The slight darkened tint of my glasses not making much difference in this light. Because yes I always wear these fuckers, better than to risk accidentally making someone stone. 

I could still see his eyes, the bright golden doing nothing to dim down in the sight of my glasses. It made me wonder, if they were this bright with them on, how bright would they be with them off? It had been so long since my encounter with the other gods to really remember. But his was the nicest, maybe because it framed his face a lot better.

"I often ask myself that same question" Hades spoke to me, finally granting me with something. Even though his answer left more questions than it did answers, leaving me reeling in his presence. 

Letting my hand drop from his sleeve, I again, gave up on humanity, so he cared and didn't know why. Or he drew a blank for the lie he would need to tell me to get me hooked like some idiot. One of the biggest idiots, oh yes I almost fell for his sweet tricks and lies.

Almost.

He's just like the rest, that is what I told myself, Hades was exactly like the rest and how I thought he was different. Beginning to fall for that smile, I should have known better to slip, right? Fall into his trap, one that he crafted with his own hands, but the key word was almost. I almost did, he almost won but no, I had won this one, because he is sloppy.

"Medusa" Hades aimed to correct his mistake, "just give me a moment to explain this to you" why should I? The thought smacked me in the face when I could no longer stomach looking at his. Forcing my head to turn the other way as disappointment filled my veins. 

"I don't want to hear it" I bit back to him, because I didn't, I did not want to hear what lies he would spill out. What would slip through his lips just like his precious brother Poseidon once did. 

'To be chosen by a God is the highest honor' 

'This will be an experience, enjoy it beautiful'

'Just accept this and don't fight'

'Any mortal would jump at the chance' 

Bastard, bastard, Poseidon the bastard God and Hades, well Hades was no better when he did this. To play with something that was long broken by the hands of his younger brother. Like this was a game of who could break me more, who could hit the hardest.

"Medusa, just let me-"

"Get out" I couldn't let him do it, no I could not let him speak another word that might work. Even through the tough act, he almost got under my skin but no, I defiantly won this. He didn't hurt me, he doesn't have anything to shove at me, Hades has lost his this game.

He didn't break me, I am not broken...

"Just give me a second" Hades spoke so quietly, so weak like.

"No" for once, I sounded stronger than he did.

Funny right, some disgusting creature running around on this earth, making some perfect God weak. Sounding nothing more like some child being scolded by his mother for breaking a rule. It almost felt a bit nice, to leave him like this, oh who am I kidding, it feels great. It made me feel like less of some pathetic shell of a woman left behind. 

But, and oh but but, Hades was just like his precious brother yet again too. Because he had not left. I could still feel his presence, his breathing still just a foot or two away from where I was. I guess Hades himself did not know what the meaning of no had meant, shocker. 

His breaths were a bit heavy, a long drag in to be held for three or four seconds before he let it go. Let's not forget his eyes, I could practically feel them drilling holes into my head. Was he fighting the urge to smack me, curse my name or threaten me like the others? Maybe drag me to the underworld and feed me to his three headed dog. 

His shoes clicked against my floor again, one step towards me, he had taken a step towards me. Towards the couch I was still laying on and I had to fight to stay still on it. Fight to keep myself looking at least a little bit strong in his sight, I couldn't act weak.

Act like a victim and that is how you will be treated.

Another intake of breath and his voice slipped out, "I said that I care" Hades voice was back to being strong. Having that tone of a man who could kill someone just for looking at him wrong. The undying tone of a God that could bring anyone to their knees with one word. 

"I would not waste my time with someone I did not" Hades took in what seemed the seventh deep breath. That naturally light voice of his becoming deeper, a rumbling deep in his chest filling the silence. My fingers shaking from it, my heart thumping so hard I could feel it in my toes.

"Just because I have yet to find a reason, it does not make what I feel any less true" the tone stayed. That rumbling tone still clinging to his voice as Hades spilled out his two sense. What he felt even though I had told him to leave, I didn't want him here. Yet he was saying words that seemed so true, so promising for at least a friend in the future. 

My fingers were beginning to dig into the cushion under them, giving my hands something to hold onto. Something to grasp to ground myself, failing miserably as the shaking had spread. Reaching my knees to where it made them bump against each other a few times. It was so obvious to me, so I knew it must have been for him too. Anyone with eyes would see something so weak on my own figure and I hated it. This fear I believed that I kicked, turns out I wasn't even close to kicking this feeling. Leaving me in some shaking mess as I couldn't bring myself to look at him.

Keeping my head turned as I listened to those shoes again, tapping around the floorboards. Again what was his obsession with dress shoes, why hadn't he left my house already? What was he doing, I could hear him going around in my kitchen, dishes clinking. Even though I wanted to know what he was doing, I did not move or look. My eyes completely glued to the ceiling through it all, even when I heard him. Those shoes coming back into the living room, something being sat down on the coffee table. It sounded like a cup, it surprised me so I looked, turning my head just enough.

Just enough to catch a glance of what he put down, seeing a white cup with some brown drink? Deep brown like choc- hot chocolate, with marshmallows in it too. Going for the home run apparently and my mind blanked, spiraled down to nothing. Hades, Lord of the underworld just raided my kitchen to make hot chocolate. It left me to blink so many times, a few dozen in a row like it would disappear. Or maybe it hadn't been real in the first place, yet there it stayed on the table. Steam rolling off from the top and up to fade off, looking straight out of a fantasy. Catching so much of my attention that I almost barely noticed the other thing. Just this time I felt it, something being laid down over me, something light. Nothing like another body but light and soft, that is what snapped me back. It was a blanket, that is what I saw had been laid on me, all by him. A blanket I didn't know I had but it was surprisingly very soft.

"They will warm you up" Hades said, so he saw the shaking and mistook it for me being cold. He assumed I had suddenly gotten cold instead of suddenly becoming afraid of him. Afraid of his tone, was he this naïve or this hopeful that I wouldn't fear him?

"I would hold you, but I am not sure you would like that" Hades tucked me in, wait hold on a second. I felt my eyes go a bit wide when I could feel the small patting on my sides and down. He was tucking me in like some quivering child from the cold, it was strange. 

"Maybe another time I could and not worry I will be hit for it" Hades put on a smile when he finished. His hands ending with my feet before he stood up to really work in that harmless image. 

"It would be okay if you did..sometimes I get impatient, so don't hesitate to smack some sense into me if I do anything to upset you" he was by far the most confusing God. Sporting a sweet smile as he just told me it was okay to strike him, giving me permission to hurt him. 

"Hades-"

"Ah ah" he cut in, "I will be going now, because you told me to but when I return, and I will return..you and I have a lot to talk about" the smile stuck with his reply. It faded only slightly but it still stuck on him regardless and I almost, I almost looked forward to it. 

"Okay"


	8. Why me Zeus?

"He sounds like some dream boat" Michelle smiled, I had stupidly told her about Hades and I. Of course I left out the whole 'Hades' thing and also told her that his nickname was Cotton Tail. I panicked when she asked for a name, so I went for such a stupid nickname. 

"I don't know what exactly to do with him" I blurted out, using this poor woman as my therapist. Being lucky enough to catch her on her lunch break and before I knew it, I spilt everything. 

"Marry him" 

"Michelle!" I wheezed out, my voice making some pathetic sound as well she looked to be having so much fun. She was laughing at me, actually laughing from how I screamed at her like that. Clutching at her gut with quite a bright smile on her face, showing off a shine in her eyes. She was having fun but the comment left my heart racing, marry Hades? Settle down with a God when a God is why I was like this in the first place. He could be just like the rest, only putting on a show until he had me convinced. But I was actually a little excited when he said he would come back, almost welcoming it. Had that feeling been his goal this entire time, to have me patiently waiting.

"Oh god Matty, you are just too easy" she grinned through her laughter, looking like some guilty cat. Some guilty little thing that knew she knocked over something and wouldn't admit it. Oh yes, a smile I use to wear on my face so many times before all this. Giving me another reason to believe that maybe Michelle was some split up other half of me. Except for the ginger hair and freckles, with those ocean blue eyes to tie it off. While my hair wasn't nearly as curly and pitch black, no freckles, no blue eyes. But what color was my eyes, I had forgot, I didn't look into the mirror anymore.

"Don't say things like that, you'll give me a heart attack" I had to take in a few deep breaths, cooling down my heart beat. Pushing all the thoughts away, all about him and anything to do with him at the moment. My world could not revolve around Hades, it needed to revolve around me. I needed to think of myself and not him, all these years it was me who watched my back. He was not there for me then so why should he be able to be here now?

"You call him Cotton Tail and he calls you, love right?" Michelle squinted her eyes in her own thoughts. Trying to remember what exactly I told her that Hades called me, it was a bit of everything really.

"I am begging you, I'm regretting telling you anything" pure regret yes, why did I say Cotton Tail? Why did I sit down in this place to ramble my problems off to a woman who didn't have to listen. Letting her listen to me ramble about my issues with men like she had to. 

"Oh don't be like that, settle down, have a bunch of Cotton Tailed love babies" she dived back in. Giving the subject no chance of dying down what so ever, so yeah, probably shouldn't have told her. 

"I hate you" my head dropped into my hands, letting my grumble slip through my fingers. Word to the wise, a serious conversation and Michelle did not exist, expect constant jokes. With changed subjects to pointless memes and shit about SpongeBob for some reason. 

"Love you too baby" she gave a small thumbs up with a fry in her mouth, already in mid chew with it. Still trying to finish her lunch in the hour she had to eat it before going back to work. 

"Do you?" I continued to speak through my fingers, "of course, it's why I am still single here, been trying to catch a fine fox" Michelle replied. Finishing off what was left of her meal with that comment and oddly, I laughed.

I actually laughed at her remark because one, it was such a stupid comeback and two, that was just how Michelle was. Her personality and that is why I like to talk to her, the carefree personality. Making me forget about all the issues I had for just a little bit, something I was grateful for. But it was something I would never admit, I'd never admit she was my friend. Or even admit that I care about her, the moment I did, she would be in danger. Still though, in my heart she was my friend, I just wouldn't say it out loud.

"How fine is this fox?"

"Fine as the underworld"

-|-

|Get grapes.| -Michelle 

|Why?| -You

|Because I fucking said so, woman.| -Michelle 

I gave Michelle my number, after she helped me pick out one, ever since Hades tucked me in, literally. I had been running to Michelle a lot more recently and why I did, I had no clue. But I still did, now she had my number and now came the texting. Telling me which movies to watch, what dinners were better than others too. That and pictures of her cat at three in the morning because he was 'cute' and I had to see. But I knew what she was doing, she could tell I was lonely, it was only obvious. Her constant 'pointless' texts had a reason behind them, letting me know I wasn't alone.

|I don't feel like moving.| -You

|Just drive.| -Michelle 

|I don't have a car.| -You

...

...

|Just call Cotton Tail, have him do it.| -Michelle 

...

|How does one block a number?| -You

|Rude.| -Michelle 

-|-

Two days have passed since Hades said he would return and since I have started to really talk to Michelle. The little friendship was a nice douse of something but I still wondered about him. Wondered if he was just saying he would come back to keep up his perfect image. Making me just think he wanted to come back, or maybe he was busy. After all he had a place to run, and he never said when he would come back either. Just that he would, so I could be waiting for a century for him to come back. 

My phone still dinged with every text from Michelle to remind me I at least still had her in my corner. Little beeps for me to see how fluffy her cat was and how she wanted to snap his neck every time. She had cute aggression, always saying how her cat was constantly walking on thin glass. Her presence made Hades abandonment less aching, because it felt like that. Like a pinch of him abandoning me as soon as I was beginning to soften. 

|Look at his cute face, I'm gonna fucking kill him.| -Michelle 

|Snap his little neck, neighbors be like, where's your cat and I will be like, what cat? I never had a cat.| -Michelle 

Yes, her presence made Hades lack of one less noticeable, it was nice to have someone send jokes. Fill little moments with something funny to have my mind pulled from all of this. Like today as I sat in the room I had deemed mine awhile ago because of the bed. It had been the nicest one, I could still hear my phone beeping as I cleaned my glasses. My nice little sunglasses that made me not turn people into stone, wiping off the dirt. Fingerprints littering them to see better, I didn't feel like walking into a wa-

"If I kill a cat, is it called kittycide?" a deep voice echoed out, filling the silence from behind me. Someone had my phone, reading Michelle's texts, a voice, a man that was in my hou-

"Hades?" it was the only thought that crossed my mind, putting away the rag I was using to clean my glasses. Of course I put them on before I turned around, for some reason, I didn't want him in stone. 

But there he was, suit in all, holding the phone Michelle had helped me pick out and even bought for me. His eyes not leaving the screen as it dinged again with a new message from her. His face emotionless as it did, but I knew he was reading it, reading the message meant for me.

"Or is it Caticide?" Hades mumbled as his eyes finally left the phone, "tell me, Michelle is a woman, yes?" was he jealous? Asking me if the name in my phone was indeed a woman instead of a man. Yes sometimes a woman would have a man's name and a man sometimes had a woman's. But it crossed your mind, was Hades actually jealous that I was talking to someone else?

"Why does it matter? Are you jealous, Lord Hades?" I couldn't help it, part of me just screamed to tell him. Don't let his poor heart think I was talking to another man in his absence but on the other hand. The other voice told me, why would it matter, I was not his, I did not belong to him. 

"Oh Medusa, my dear" Hades put on a whole new smile, something I had never seen on him before. Something that looked almost like, lust, or something in that category. Maybe it was a trick of my own eyes or my mind going to the gutter with a simple smile. One he flashed me before my phone was long forgotten and as he approached me. A few good steps and he was right there, in front of the chair in the corner of this room. His hands landing on the arm rests of it to lean down, to leer over me.

"This is not the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my jealousy" he was right there, the closest he had ever been. Directly over me, driving me to lean back as much as I could into the same chair that trapped me. Keeping me right where he had wanted me, but even with my position. It was not fear that drove my heart to race, the thought of him hurting me never crossed.

Even as his breath could be felt against my face, the low and long puffs of air slipping from him. His mouth clamped shut but it was his eyes that drew me in the most because of the color. The golden color and most of all, with him being this close I could see the color...moving. 

Like small ripples in water, low waves in the ocean, filled with light and darker shades of gold. Drawing me in like some spell, like I had no fight in me but I did, I did have some fight. There was no way I would fall victim to some stupid eye trick, so I looked away. Letting my gaze slip from him to fall to the floor instead, to look at his shoes.

"She's a...waitress" I answered his question, "and your friend too apparently, here I thought you were replacing me" Hades replied. Though it looked like a mountain of pressure instantly left him with it. Another huff of breath from the faint laugh that left him, all before he pulled back. 

"I apologize for making you wait for so long, drama in Olympus" Hades remarked to something I knew nothing about. Of course I would know nothing about that since I didn't live there. Nor would I ever want to, I did not believe any of that was a gift, not anymore. 

"Some are not big fans in my choices" Hades went on to say anyway, "they don't like the fact that I am courting you" he wagged his- wait what?

"Courting!" I blurted out, "who said anything about courting??" my heart was racing again like routine. This time it was just for a different reason entirely because hello, courting, oh no.

"Yes love, courting" Hades put on a dimple filled smile but no, that did not work on me at all this time. Oh no, being friends with a God was more than enough of a stretch, no loving one. Not after everything, I couldn't be such an idiot and fall for any of that bullshit. 

"No, you said that you just needed me" poke some holes quick, that is what I was thinking to do. Quick let him see the daylight because he could do so much better than someone like me. Someone better than me in all aspects, it could not be with me, please not with me.

Hades please, not with me..

...

...

"Yes I did, I need you..to be mine"


	9. Whiplash

I fainted, my head spun when those words left his lips and I knew instantly that ever letting him into my life was a mistake, I felt the color drain from my face, the feeling in my fingers going. The breath in my lungs fading before the last thing to go was my sight and I dropped, the black dots consuming my sight before I would hit the floor. 

But I didn't hit the floor, I knew I didn't hit it or even come close to it, because when my sight came back to me, the first thing I was greeted with was Hades's golden eyes staring me down. His face directly above me with his arms holding me, I felt the warmth of his body almost engulfing me, it had been so very long. That some part of me forgot the fact that people are warm to the touch, just like him, I felt warm and it felt nice, it actually felt nice to be held for once and have it not hurt.

"There you are, you gave me quite the little heart attack" Hades smiled, showing off those dimples, the ones used to get what he wanted, just like was trying to get me and for what, I did not know.

"I didn't think my confession would be this much of a shock" he said, "is it really that much of a surprise?" maybe to him it was obviou-

Okay maybe it should have been very obvious to me too, the little stalking and just all that he said, by Zeus had I become that much of an idiot with all these years alone to my own mind? All his actions and words, why hadn't it hit me sooner, why was it only hitting me now when he had to full on admit it for me to really get it. I'm an idiot, such an idiot for so many reasons but no matter how 'nice' the hold felt, I pulled myself away from it, sliding away from Hades and his open arms. Pushing my hands against the floor to slide myself across it, slowly and yes quite pathetic like until my back hit a wall, backing myself into it like some frightened animal.

"Medusa?" Hades lost his smile, finally losing it, losing his confidence or whatever it brought to him, don't break now, that is what I said to myself, don't trust a god no matter what.

"Just leave, please" what else could I say, yes Hades I want to believe you but you are related to Poseidon and I'm pretty sure the whole personalities don't fall far from the tree. I didn't want to think Hades would go to that level, be just like that but after all, I couldn't really trust him, I didn't know him or see all of him either. No I only saw the part of Hades that he was allowing me to see and what I was seeing only seemed far too good to be true, so the logical answer to that was simple.

It was all too good to be true.

"No, wait-"

"LEAVE!" I screamed, I had to, my voice raised up because he had to leave, he had to leave this house and leave me alone, I needed him gone and he needed to know that. My body was already reacting so weakly, goosebumps forming as my knees begun to shake, back to some pitiful excuse for a woman in front of a powerful-

"No" Hades words stopped my thoughts, his short but obvious rejection to my demand, he actually told me no and yes, it caught me off guard and just for a few short seconds, I stopped shaking. 

"No?" I found myself repeating him, my eyes raising to look into his own, those golden eyes that always found their way to make me feel both small and merely like a mortal woman.

"Yes, no..I mean no, I will go downstairs and...wait but I am not leaving, not this time, I promised a talk with you and its time we had it" he said, that face of his showing more emotion than mine did. Than mine had ever shown in so long, not an emotion of pain or anger, maybe it was sympathy or understanding but it was still something.

"What could we possibly talk about?" the shaking was all gone now, instead I was standing, I could feel my knees bending and pushing myself from the floor, the fear long gone now. For some reason, I was feeling anger and irritation, as Hades rose with me, it only seemed to make this new feeling worse and far more obvious now. 

"Everything" Hades replied without hesitation, "how you are constantly comparing me to my brother" there it is, the root to it all right, Hades didn't like I was comparing him to Poseidon. 

Did I care? No, no I did not.

"So?" I knew it was stupid but I blamed him too, I blamed everyone, every single mortal and creature was to blame and did it make the pain in my chest any less? No, it didn't. But blaming everyone made some part of me feel good, so that is what I did, that is what I do, blame everyone so I can sleep at night for once.

"So?" Hades repeated my reply in disbelief, "Medusa, I would..I would never...not anything like that" his face went back to showing those emotions again but this time, it was pain. Yes it was pain, I knew that look because I had seen it so many times before on my own face, back when I looked at mirrors, now I didn't bother to.

"You would never, huh? And what about Athena? How she attacked me and let me guess, you didn't do anything about that did you?" time to spew out everything right, well why not, let's begin. I started off with all the things that first popped into my head, the most recent offending action done by a god that still left a bruise on my back.

"Medu-"

"Or, how I can't even look at someone without turning them into stone!" I took in a deep breath as soon as my voice started to raise, my hands balling into fists, my nails digging into my palms.

"The stories about me, about the disgusting creature named Medusa, look away children, for a single glance from the beast will turn you into stone, never to be alive again" I felt it now. The heartache and as soon as my voice rose, it had fallen down to nothing but a whisper because who was I kidding, I didn't have the strength to yell at him. 

Even with all this frustration and empty ache in my chest, I could never keep my voice raised to him and yes, I hated that feeling of feeling so weak against him like this. With tears building in my eyes, filling up to blur my sight, I felt myself ready to cry because I admitted to myself that finally, I gave a damn about him and I hated it. I barely knew him and what I knew of him could all be a lie, so I was crying because I was nothing more than the idiot I was before when I was still a mortal.

I am an idiot.

-|-

A plate was put down, filled up with rice, vegetables and meat, a cup filled with what looked like water, all placed in front of me by none other but the god of the underworld himself. Not a single word was spoken between us since my outburst upstairs, Hades making good of his promise of not leaving either, still keeping his presence with me. 

Even through the thirty two minutes of silence, he still took a seat next to me when I had yet to move my hands from my lap to even attempt to eat what he took the time to make. Hades rested his hands on the table, folding them together with barely a sound from him, in fact the only sound he made was a small clearing of his throat, then he spoke.

"I know that I will never understand your pain or fear" his voice was light, like he was speaking to a frightened child and honestly, there was probably a lot of kids far braver than me. 

"It is something I will never feel" Hades stated facts I already knew but somehow to hear him admit these things, it made me feel, I can't say better but maybe lighter to hear it. My face blank as I watched the steam poor off the meal he prepared since I had yet to gain an ounce of courage to look at him directly.

"I wish I could take it all away, I'd give anything for that, I would give up my immortality and my kingdom to give you some peace" Hades continued even without my lack of response to him. Like he didn't need me to speak to say what he wanted and actually, he didn't need me to say anything to speak his mind, so I only listened to his thoughts. His words of giving up everything, I didn't know how I was suppose to react to it, was I suppose to be happy or guilty, sad? I didn't know how to react, so I didn't. 

"I just can't, so let me do this" Hades eyes were on me, I could feel them as if they were drilling holes into my skull, a gaze that could bring a grown man to his knees in an instant. 

"Let me be here for you, you don't need to give me anything in return, just allow me to help" with that tone he was using, I was just waiting for the ball to drop and for it to all come plummeting down. 

"Medusa, let me in."


	10. Breathe

Am I too stubborn, maybe I am a full blown idiot but somehow the feelings I felt towards Hades were the most complete blurriness of emotions I have ever been struck with, does that make sense? Yes some part of me was hopeful, let this be true but it all seemed like a trap, like the other shoe would just drop the moment I gave in, but what if it didn't, what if I was holding back for no reason? Just pushing him away or screaming at him to leave never worked, if it did, Hades would not still be sitting in that chair, staring at me, waiting for an answer.

"Hades" I made myself speak, "even if I wanted to, I would not know the first step to properly take" it was the truth and even if I didn't like it, since yes a big part of me was screaming to try for my sake and sanity. Yet I couldn't bring myself to take the first move to go down a road I believed no longer existed, I have shut everyone and everything out for so long, I do not know how to re-open that door.

Or if that door even still exists.

"Well, not pushing me away is a good start" Hades didn't miss a beat, "a bit of trust wouldn't be so bad either" he was right, maybe a little trust.

No, no a little bit of trust would turn into a lot of trust and I would be in the same position I was in before, torn down to nothing but a flesh filled pathetic piece of space at the mercy of someone stronger. 

Right?

"Trust?" it felt bitter to say, some sickening taste at the back of my throat, my mind forcing me to remember the last time I put my trust in a god, a memory that would forever lay in the back of my mind. Yet his eyes pleaded with me, those golden eyes seemed so desperate to have just an ounce of my trust that he acted to need as much as he needed air, if a god did need air at all.

"Yes, I know it will be difficult but this won't work if you don't try" Hades replied again, even though I kept repeating myself he didn't get annoyed like I thought he would or how anyone would get annoyed. 

Back to sounding so tempting, how...what was the word?

I can't remember.

I'm tired, my back hurts for some reason, maybe because I've been slouching this entire time and not to mention my head was starting to pound, my teeth grinding against each other to give out this scrapping sound. I am out of words to say to him, I have been saying nothing but anything I could think of and now, I am out of what I could say to him to make any difference now. 

"Try" I felt myself mumble and Hades, well Hades almost looked as exhausted as I did but he still had that glint in his eyes, some glint of hope that things could still go well between us, a glint from the beginning. So yes it struck me, why did I push him away in the first place, because he was related to the god who hurt me, because he was a god himself and I'm just bitter? Now that exhaustion had hit me I couldn't tell what for certain had fueled me to do it, maybe it being the lack of trust for obvious reasons but still, now all seemed so pointless.

"Medusa" Hades started but I cut him off with one simple thing, taking him by surprise, I knew I had from the look on his face, "and if I say yes?".

-|-

Hades was rounding up flowers in some flower shop, I agreed to follow him to this place and no, I have no idea why but I was here with him, following him around silently as he looked so happy. Taking any flower he found pretty until he had gotten a pretty decent amount, tying them together with a red ribbon before it was given to me, he told me I had to hold them. Then it was off to the next store where he bought this three sizes too big of a white sweater that I had to wear or else it would make him sad, so I was left looking like an idiot. A toddler with a bouquet of flowers, some pointless things he was doing until he dragged me off somewhere else, not literally dragged me but still, it felt like it, maybe a little bit.

The next thing was a convertible, you know those cars without a roof, Hades was making so many fast movements that I was utterly confused, even as I was ushered inside with my flowers and sweater. Sitting in the passenger seat as he climbed into the other side like a man who was just given the world and all I said was that I might say yes, it wasn't even a for sure thing. 

"I've heard that it is enjoyable to go for a drive in the country" Hades shot down my confusion with his little brightened up comment as he started the car up, but still, was this even his car or were we stealing it?

"Can you...even drive?" it did cross my mind, why would he need to drive, it's not like he had one down where he lived, the underworld didn't have roads, or at least not to my knowledge, it didn't but who knows. 

"Oh no, I just thought I could wing it" Hades commented with a soft chuckle, "of course I can my dear, they're not that hard to manage" that smile looked to grow ten times more with his snarky remark. Proving me wrong as he drove off, taking only a few minutes to get off the paved road and hit the dirt ones, never going to fast to make the breeze too strong. Just enough so that there was one and well, he wasn't wrong, the trees were nice to look at, some different colors from others, some birds flying by and deer in the distance like some Disney movie. 

Yet I still did not see a point in this, if we were meant to talk then why are we in a car going down some road I have never seen before, why the flowers and the sweater that was way too big to fit me at all. I still couldn't wrap my head around this but it was nice, yes it was pretty nice to just focus on the passing trees, the blue sky above us and the dirt road in front of us. 

"Not everything needs a reason" Hades must have seen my thoughts written across my face, maybe it was that obvious of me needing some reason for everything and I did, everything needed some little reason. 

So things could make sense.

"I like things to have reason" I spoke the truth, no point in lying when I assumed he would be able to tell if I was or not, maybe it was a god thing or maybe I was being paranoid, trauma does make people paranoid. 

"Okay darling, then the reason for this is because I want to see you smile" Hades was quick with his comeback, that same smile writing all over his face because he probably thought it was best thing in the world.

"Not gonna happen" I said, shaking my head in reply to him, "oh, the day is still young, have faith" his finger wagged as one turn lead us past a few farm houses, and one had horses and cows, simple animals but still beautiful. 

"It'll get old real quick with no smile" a deer looked at me, its head turning to me as soon as the small sentence left my lips, one of its ears twitching as we passed it, purposely having my eyes on the sights. Keeping them to the right or in head of me because somehow I didn't want to look at him, I still didn't see why the car and this ride was needed at all. 

"Even so, you look utterly adorable" Hades threw his comment out, "now start tossing the flowers, my love" a right turn put us on another dirt road and my mind, well it did a full circle of confusion. 

"What?"

"The flowers, they represent things" Hades's smile softened, "each flower you have, one represents anger, sadness, bad memories or suicidal thoughts, all the bad things in your mind, each flower you throw is each bad thing you are willing to let go of" he explained a useless coping method. Like really, throwing flowers that is supposed to be my anger, Hades didn't buy nearly enough flowers to represent my anger but still, it was actually tempting after all of this. Would it be so easy to start to let go of all of this shit by tossing some flowers out on the side of the road, they wouldn't hurt any of the animals that came across them. 

So why not, why not play in this stupid little thing, I removed the ribbon, wrapping the silk around my right hand and around a few of my fingers, picking up all of them at once in my hands. I moved my hands over the side of the car, holding these flowers that were supposed to be me, some store bought flowers that now meant something if I either let them go or held onto them. Letting them go meant I could start a new path and holding onto them meant I go down the same one I have been for so long but Hades had broke me down. He exhausted me, he had one and now my future was unknown but what I did know or what I at least assumed, my future was in Hades hands and what he decided for it.

I dropped the flowers, the entire bouquet slipping through my fingers.

"That's my girl, I never had a doubt"


	11. Yes?

"I always wondered, did you name yourself Medusa or did the people?" Hades talked through the bites he took of his meal, sitting in some little restaurant dressed like he was ready to go to some funeral. While I was pretty sure the table next to us could hear my boot thumping against the floor from how bad my leg had been shaking since the moment we both took this table.

"Right now?" I muttered in reply, talking about something like that, something so sensitive where anyone could hear it and chase me with a bunch of pitchforks and oh yeah, kill me because that is the world now. 

Killing what they don't understand.

First comes the awe, the wonder of something new and when they find out it is real, instead of the trick of the eye or visual effects, then comes the talking, the rambling of beauty and peace with one another. Yet that never lasts because the human race doesn't like to think that they are not the superior kind, then the men and women with power start throwing around the thought of war. Of death dealt by the unknown and all that awe and wonder is snuffed out with fear and when fear sets into the heart of man, it isn't long until it burns into anger. One hell of a flaw built straight into the core of most men and women on this earth, it felt to me that the bad out weighed all the good this world could ever offer, and hey you know what. Let's just say fuck it and talk about it all in the open, who cares if I am hunted down like some animal, all for the big mouth of a god who needs a damn filter built into him.

"It crossed my mi-" I flung a pea to his head, "ah hey, play fair" he jerked when the pea hit him but yet he smiled from it, his hand rubbing the spot of his face that I hit, rubbing away what little mess it made.

"Well tell me this, don't you have to go home? You can't stay up here forever" I reloaded my fork with a few more peas, facing it towards him and oh, the look of terror on a god's face because of a fork filled with peas?

Priceless.

"I feel like this is a rigged question, no matter what I say you are going to fling those at my face" Hades stared down the fork like it was his greatest enemy, not even close to trusting something so small. 

"Rigged? Now why would you say that, I thought you trusted me?" I raised the fork a little more, bringing it back just a few more small centimeters and Hades, oh how he watched it like he was ready to fight or flight. One hand lifted up and off the table like what, he was planning to catch the food aimed straight for his head, oh no it is not going to be that easy to deflect my attack.

"I do love, but it's the food I don't trust" oh sure, let's go with that, such a silly comment when I was the one holding the fork but sure, we can blame the food instead of me, I am not about to complain.

"Okay, alright I will play fair, one question" I held up one finger on my other hand, "yes or no answer" wiggling my finger I gave him a faint smile, well more of a smirk, actually I had no idea what it was or what it meant. The smile that is or if it was a smile at all, all I knew and could feel were the sides of my mouth tugging up in what others would classify a smile or grin of some sort. 

"Rigged question" Hades mumbled under his breath, and oh that did bring a smile because yes this was going to be so totally rigged but somehow this felt nice and his little comeback almost brought out a laugh.

"Ready?" I asked with a small raise of my left eyebrow, Hades still continuing to glare at the peas like they were still his mortal enemies he had been fighting since the very beginning and boy, did I like that look on him.

"Why not" Hades shrugged, "I'll play any game your heart desires, even the rigged ones if it's what you need" he spilled out, that dimple smile forming on that face of his, some stupid shine in his eyes and...

I lost my train of thought, it sputtered out and flew into a ditch over something so little, something so forgetful but it stunned me no less but it couldn't be helped, this cheeky and loving bastard. This damn god, this damn man had left my mind blank for yet another time, another song set on repeat but this time was different from the others, it wasn't fear or shock that drew this blank.

Something else...

It was something else but it was something I couldn't put my finger on.

Or wouldn't.

So I changed my question.

...

...

"Am I beautiful?"

Simple question right, yes or no but did I really want to know what he thought, couldn't I have gone the rest of my days with not needing to know, well too late now because it was out in the open. It came out as a whisper but I knew he heard it by the way his smile changed, it didn't fade but it did change into something of understanding and sympathy and maybe; dis-belief.

"That is the most rigged question a woman could ever ask" Hades said, "if I say yes, you will place me along side every man in saying what I think you will like to hear to get what I want and if I don't, you will just assume I am using you and have no respect towards you or your well being" quite a mouthful. Talking with his hands the entire time while the thought of the fork full of peas had left his mind entirely and honestly, it left mine soon after the first few words.

"Or I could just be curious" I set the fork down, "sometimes people like to hear that they mean something" the thought of hitting Hades in the face with peas was no longer in my mind, now it was something completely different.

"I see, well in that case.." Hades leaned on his elbows, "but it's not simple to say, so let me try to put this the best way I can, so my words can never be twisted"

"Okay" I whispered.

"Yes, okay" Hades cleared his throat, "you are imperfect but you try to be flawless, you are reckless, messy even but you are kind to others, though you pretend not to care but I can see that caring is all you seem to do and those little wheels in your head, they never stop turning, you focus on your past, linger in it even and you are broken, in every definition and term but you refuse to fade away" he stopped. Something going inside his head, as my eyes were glued onto his, I could see his own wheels turning but something was blurring my sight with this sensation in my eyes?

Oh...

Tears, they were tears, of course they were. 

"You are both hopeful and hopeless, angry and exhausted, weak but ready for any fight thrown in your direction" Hades continued until it all stopped, his eyes darting from left to right like he was searching for something. As he struggled with his words, I struggled with my breaths, most of them being lodged in my chest with each intake I tried to work through in order to have.

"You are all of this, but above all and out of everything, you are...divine" finally those eyes stopped darting, instead locking onto my own in just one blink of his eyes and like that, his eyes were back on me.

"Yes, that's it" Hades smiled, "I was never looking for perfection, I was in search of something absolutely divine and she sits right across from me" such a way with words, I wouldn't expect any less from him. With one finger pointed towards my chest, it had felt like Hades won this battle, because this wasn't the answer I was looking for...

This was the answer I needed.

-|-

|Gurl I just saw you with a damn model, is that Cotton Tail??| -Michelle

|You flung peas at him! I ship it!| -Michelle

|Did you by chance sell your soul for him?| -Michelle

|Because that would explain a lot.| -Michelle

...

...

"Your friend does have a lot of energy" Hades whispered, my phone in his hands, thumbing through the messages between me and Michelle, out of what he called curiosity but I just assumed it to be jealousy. 

"I worry for the safety of her cat" he mumbled as his thumb still scrolled through the messages slowly, so he was the type who liked reading messages sent by others, whatever kept his bout afloat.

"She's just sarcastic" I replied, removing my jacket now that we had made it back to my home, untying my shoes and putting them away, Hades never leaving his spot in the chair next to the couch.

"You are pretty sarcastic yourself, and really? Cotton Tail? Couldn't have picked something like Derek or Michael?" Hades continued to scroll.

"Here I thought it was cute" I remarked.

"It is cute but I am a grown man, men aren't cute" Hades mumbled back.

"You are like the living definition of how men are cute" I rolled my eyes to his grumble, laying myself out on the couch with a smile because yes, he was pouting over being called cute, and I was enjoying this.

"I would have even been happy with Keith" he was just not letting it go, bottom lip sticking out and everything like some little kid and I broke, I laughed and I don't mean I gigged, no I let out this loud squeaky laugh. Something I hadn't done in ages, it had felt so different to me, so wrong but so right at the same time, leaving me to only cover my mouth when Hades focused on me.

"Now that, is amazing" Hades stood from the chair, my phone long forgotten until he was kneeling down in front of the couch right were I was laying, correction, where I was sitting now, having done it the second he stood.

"Something I thought I would never hear" those golden eyes stared up at mine, his eyes playing tricks on me as those golden swirls moved like gentle waves in an ocean or a small stream in a river. 

"With that off my bucket list, Let's try something else, shall we?" Hades hummed, something in his tone was far too alluring and tempting that it took me a moment to realize what he really meant.

His fingers had curled themselves around my sunglasses and my heart almost dropped, it almost did a backflip and broke it's fucking neck, I nearly lost it and how I reacted was simple and quick enough to stop him. I grabbed his hands, latching onto his wrists the best I could, my eyes squeezed shut, as tight as a could get them, right to the point were I was seeing white lights under my eyelids.

"Ha-Hades, don't..just don't" I was shaking, my knees knocking against each other as I hung my head down low like it could somehow stop all of this and let us go back to laughing over texts that meant nothing.

"It's alright, it won't work on me" Hades slid closer, his knees pressing into the couch as his head leaned against mine, fingers working their way to the ends of my glasses but I couldn't make myself let go.

"What if it does?" because honestly, he was the last one I wanted this to work on, the last man I wanted to lose to this curse, and it was something I was sure I would never feel ever again; for any man.

"It won't"

"Hades-"

"Trust in me" Hades whispered, "like I trust in you" my glasses started to slip, his light tugs removing them as they slid down my nose but my eyes remained closed as tight as I could keep them for now. Hell I planned to never open them, my life of never opening my eyes and being blind, here I come because no, just no, no right? No.

"Now" Hades voice rung in my ears, "open your eyes"


	12. Lean on me

"Beautiful"

My heart stopped, the pacing ceased and for a few seconds my heart did not beat, because why you wonder? Well, I could see, granted I have always seen but now without having to look through glasses. I didn't have a dark tint to my vision, the lights came in a bit bright, after so long of always having the sunglasses, I had to squint my eyes to block out some of the brightness. Giving my eyes a few blinks before I truly saw it, truly saw him, kneeling before me on the floor now, making it where I had to look down to see him and I did look. 

I looked.

Without the dark tint the glasses always brought, with my eyes squinted due to the overall light in the room but could see him, his face, his eyes...

His eyes, those golden eyes that moved like the ocean, little ripples that seemed to move unnatural, of course it was unnatural with him being a god right? Nothing about this man was natural, even with his human form. But I could see him, I was staring Hades down, my eyes hooked to his against my better instinct but I couldn't make myself turn away, I couldn't look away. 

I saw Hades, with my own eyes, without the glasses.

"Hade-" my voice broke, my heart beginning to pick up its pace, thumping hard enough that I felt it in my toes, with every beat it left my body shaking harder, shaking until my knees had been clicking together. My breath coming out in short but loud intakes, oh and my sight, my sight? It was starting to blur, my sight wasn't going black but it was becoming harder to focus on the man in front of me. 

"Relieved, I see" Hades spoke for the both of us, his hands coming into contact with my face, his fingers brushing at my eyes but why, my eyes? Oh, Oh I see, I'm crying, I'm crying because he was still here, still moving. I was relieved wasn't I, why would I cry if I wasn't, I was happy he was still alive, that I hadn't just killed another man, that he wasn't a part of the count like the rest.

"I'm glad that you're relieved, it means that you care for my safety" Hades spoke again and softly, "which is a good thing" he stated, his hands never using too much pressure to wipe what tears that did fall down my face. 

"It also means that I Hades, have gotten under the great Medusa's skin" Hades smiled in such a smug way that I would have smacked him, any other day he would have had his teeth knocked in but now, right now I couldn't bring myself to. My chest was beginning to hurt, it started to burn like I had been holding my breath in, after so long of everything turning to stone and he wasn't. My body didn't know how to react to that, to him being still alive, to him still being in front of me and breathing like it wasn't anything to him, he was still here.

"Oh dear, someone is getting a little overwhelmed" Hades commented, his voice being the only one that worked out of ours, still so calm like this was just another day for him, looking into my eyes. The same eyes that have turned so many to stone, the same ones that have taken so many, once I so nearly tore out of my own head just a few years before all this, but then again, was I overreacting? Was his smile, his calm look in his eyes, was that the way I was supposed to be acting, smiling and speaking like nothing, not just sitting here and staring, like some idiot.

"Breathe, love" he said, running his left thumb just under my right eye, "this is a good thing" Hades smiled again, his dimples making their appearance as he seemed to get closer and closer to me and where I sat. 

"A good thing" he repeated to me, "you don't have to hide from me, not behind your walls or those glasses" Hades's hands stilled against my cheeks, quite literally holding my face in his hands, and I? Well I couldn't move, my voice and my breath being taken from me, stolen from me by Lord Hades himself, leaving me uncertain that he would ever return them back to me.

"We can find a compromise, make a deal of sorts because I want this and I am willing to do anything and everything" of course he would, why did it even shock me to hear those words slip from him, actually they didn't. Once those words slipped through, the pain in my chest faded once the air returned, taking in a quite deep breath because I felt a small laugh escape me. 

My sudden laughter caught him off guard, that smile slipping from his face as those golden eyes seemed so confused and it did bring a sense of pride to me, to throw him off his feet even for a second. But now wasn't the time to play games, no this wasn't a game because I'll tell you why I laughed, because you see, Hades said he'd do anything didn't he, for me, correct? 

I lifted my hands from my lap, slipping them free and up, sliding my palms up until they rested on the sides of his neck, my fingertips digging into the back of his neck near those fine hairs that did get a sound out of him. A hiss mixed with some type of groan, maybe moan, since my nails did go into his skin but I paid no mind to it, using the hold on his neck that I had to pull him closer. Tugging him into my personal bubble until my forehead pressed against his own, until I could feel the warmth coming from him, his breath leaving his mouth. 

Finally, he was speechless and finally, I spoke.

"You don't have to, you have done more than I could ever want" I implored, finally I breathed after what felt like so long, air rushing through my lungs as my body willed itself to stop shaking in a matter of seconds. Regaining my strength as the seconds passed, as the silence filled the room since now it was Hades who could not speak because I had finally gave in, I gave into him. My mind was no longer spinning, no longer blurry because that was all finally done now, my mind was clear as day, clear as the god that knelt before me. 

His breath hitting my face as it seemed that he had regained himself, his hands slipping from my face, dropping down to my sides until finally they rested down on my hips, barely a touch but I still felt them. Neither of us moving for so long and I wasn't afraid, I wasn't scared of him or this, I actually felt calm and almost safe to be this close to him because some part of me knew, he would protect me. I had nothing to be afraid of, nothing to worry about as I listened to him breathe, until finally, oh finally he spoke again, one small word to fill the silence.

"Mine?" Hades questioned.

...

...

...

...

...

"Yours" I breathed.


	13. Taking control

Hades sat, knees slightly parted in silence as he stared forward at nothing really, an unfortunate situation where he was stuck in the same room as Athena, he'd much rather be with you in fact but here he was. Listening to her pace up and down with quiet grumbles under her breath, she wasn't happy but then again when was she ever, but in fact, why was he here again?

"Unbelievable" Athena snarled.

Ah right, he remembered why now.

"Do you have any idea what you are doing? Or are you that idiotic?" she bit out, her eyes staring him down, it seemed that she forgot who was the stronger one here and the older one, so where was that respect?

"Excuse me?" Hades scoffed, "I don't need to answer you, Athena".

"That thing you are fuckin-" Athena raised her voice but Hades stopped it with a flick of his wrist, sending a nearby table flying through the room, slamming into the wall behind her, the wood slamming into the cement wall. Shattering on impact, shards and slivers of the table sliding across the floor and yes, it did shut up the Goddess, her jaw clicking shut as soon as the last of the table fell.

"Watch your tone with me, it is possible to kill a god and believe me, I am quite capable of it" Hades spoke calmly, letting a smile slip onto his face as it looked like he got his point across, or at least hoped so. The look that he god from the Goddess did make him think so, the way her face was blank to him, she wasn't afraid he knew that, but at least she was quiet now.

"You will stop this" Athena regained her voice, such a shame.

"Stop what, exactly?" Hades breathed out.

"With that snake, for you to allow that thing be near you, it is an insult to every god, including yourself" an opinion he didn't care for, a face that annoyed him, why did he agree to this, that he couldn't put his finger on.

"An insult? But raping mortals or cursing them, is not?" he felt annoyed, his hands curling into fists as the seconds passed, he couldn't bear to hear any words that insulted your name or image.

"Don't you dare change the subject, Hades" Athena shot back, "I made her outer appearance reflect her true self" she spoke through gritted teeth.

"You punished her when she prayed for your guideness, she pleaded for strength and you cursed her to be a monster" he didn't want to be here, but that didn't stop him from speaking what was on his mind,

"You turned against her and when I do my best to save her, I am the one insulting our fellow gods" Hades kept going, "you go to her shortly after I find her and attempt to turn her against me but you failed, for I already had her" he stated the facts.

"Just by a little bit, but now, I have her fully and in time, I will take her to the Underworld, where no one will ever touch her again, no one but me" he heaved out a pretty good deep breath. Already tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair he had been sitting in, nails making small clicks on the old wood, a nice chair compared to the age of it, it was in good condition to his surprise.

"Only the damned go there, you can't take a living soul" Athena's voice was really irritating, it was starting to have an effect on Hades, creating a bitter taste in the back of his throat when he wanted her just to stop.

"I think you are forgetting who I am, I always get what I want" Hades waved his hand, in no real direction or for real reason but he did enjoy the way Athena watched the movement like some obedient animal.

"This is.." Athena tried again but he quickly ended it, his hand raised up.

"I will only say this once" Hades spoke, "touch Medusa again, and I will rip your beating heart from your chest, while you are still alive to witness it".

-|-

I braided my hair, tangling it nicely into one of the best braids I had ever done in my life, throwing on some fades blue jeans and a sweater much to big for me, up with the sunglasses and I left the house with the rising sun. Taking my morning stroll like I always did, straight to the one market that held my favorite foods, but mostly it was for the blueberry muffins, since I had a craving.

Stepping into the market, slipping past the people and all the chattering to get to the isle I wanted, brushing my fingers along the shelves while I walked, I was actually in a good mood, my shoulders lighter now. More than they had been in awhile, things didn't hit me as hard and hey, I was able to relax more and yes I knew why, I knew the culprit and I was completely fine with that. 

Scanning the shelves until finally, I found what I wanted, taking the box right off the shelf when I couldn't help the smile that found my face, the picture alone just made my day, like I said, I was in a good mood.

"Though, I am not much of a cook..." I whispered, going over the steps listed on the back of it, a lot of steps for the type of person who didn't like to do any of it but the question was, how badly do I want this?

"Well, it's a good thing that I love to cook" nevermind, Hades right there and taking the box from my hands, looking over the very same steps I had been before with that dimple smile so smoothly put there on his face.

"Hades" I mumbled without thinking, "Love, it's absolutely exhilarating to hear my name on your lips" Hades smiled more, those dimples becoming more well formed in his cheeks, it did caught my attention like always. But it was his eyes that always stole the show, those gold ones that I would probably never get use to and could anyone really blame me if I didn't.

"Oh, I almost forgot" Hades blurted, his left hand sliding out from behind him to reveal a bouquet of roses, bright and vibrant roses, "I got them for you".

"Am I suppose to throw these away too?" I asked, taking the bunch from his hand, holding the bouquet itself against my chest, already brushing my nose against the first rose that touched my face.

"It would crush my heart if you did" Hades chuckled, "I plan to fill that house with hundreds of them, so you can always be reminded of me when I am gone".

"I don't need flowers to remind me, I already do on my own" my words slipped before I could stop them, breaking free from me and just like that, I froze, my eyes going wide as it felt like my heart stopped. I always did when I admitted things like these, I still had yet to get use to this, use to being like this even if Hades could make it look so easy, I still struggled with it sometimes.

"That is wonderful, because I am unable to stop thinking about you, to even be reminded to do so" Hades smiled so perfectly, yet again.

"Sounds like someone is obsessed" I smelled another rose.

"The correct term, is being in love" Hades happily corrected me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

|Please have mercy, I am trying to find some sort of plot to this and trying to find a way to give this some sort of sanity besides all these twists and turns, so sorry~|


	14. Test me

He sat alone, his fingers lightly tapping against the glass, his nails making quiet clicking sounds that barely matters to the soft mewls of the kittens on the other side, oh yes the small and fluffy ball of cuteness(es) on the other side. Sure puppies and all sorts of cute creatures were nice but kittens came to mind when he thought of you, he needed to bring you a present and kittens is what hit him. Right now as he eyed the smallest one, the only one who didn't pay him any attention, the rest were all more than happy to meow and purr at the mere glance of him. Just not that one, with its pure black color with its back facing him, tapping harder on the glass didn't seem to do the trick, maybe a twitch of its ear but nothing more than that.

"That one" Hades spoke, his finger directed towards the one giving him the silent treatment, oh the silent treatment, how that reminded him of you and your little ways to drive him mad, even without you noticing them. 

"Sir. if I may say...the others seem more-" the polite employee tried to stop his choice, she was a kind woman, a pure soul, so Hades did not take offence to what he would normally take as an insult any other day.

"I choose that one" Hades tapped the glass once more with one good sound and finally, the fluffy sour kitty looked at him and Hades was met with the greenest eyes, and with that, Hades felt victorious.

"I shall call you, Missa" 

-|-

Soft mewls mixed with agitated hisses came from Hade's coat, the soft ball of fur tucked into his jacket pocket, it did gain some looks from people who passed him but he payed no mind to their glances. He made sure to keep his hand near the opening of the pocket to keep the kitten from falling out, it did get him a few swats from very small paws and nips from even smaller teeth. The little thing proving to be more like you as every minute passed, it only made him grow with pride from his perfect choice, it had a little fire lit deep down, so much like your own. The claws and teeth barely phased him, little pricks no less but oh baby, he felt all sorts of giddy, someone could rip out his spleen and he wouldn't care.

Even with another nip to his finger, he was left with another foolish grin, giving the small kitten a gentle tap to the nose and with that, another kiss and small growl to follow right after, oh such a sensitive little thing-

"Brother"

His feet skidded, shoes making a small screech against the cement, and Hades took it back, there was something that could ruin his mood and he had done it instantly, in a matter of a second, Hades was pissed. Because that voiced belonged to none other but Zeus himself, the same god who banished him, the same one who always sided with Poseidon no matter the situation.

"My dear brother" Zeus cleared his throat, he was right behind him, Hades could feel this but turning around to face him was another thing, why would he want to look at the face that was meant to support and love him. Not abandon him, but more importantly how could he face him after what happened to you, after what Poseidon did and he still lives in Olympus. He still has throne and his reputation intact of being a loving and merciful god, but Hades knew better than that, you especially knew better than that bullshit of a reputation.

"What do you want?" Hades found it hard to sound welcoming, well he didn't care to even try, just get it over with so he could get to you, that is what he wanted, just to get to you and see your face, hear your voice.

"What are you doing?" Zeus spoke, "you are neglecting your responsibilities in the Underworld" these were facts, spit out for Hades to hear, he hadn't been to the Underworld in over a month. 

"I am trying to gain something" Hades muttered in reply, keeping his back towards the god he once had called his brother, but now it was hard to even address Zeus as a god at all, considering all he had done.

"Gain what, exactly?" Zeus needed to leave, Hades wanted him to, he had no right to be poking his nose into his life like this, asking him questions like he was the bad guy, he wasn't, he was nothing like his brothers or fellow gods.

"A Queen" Hades spoke the truth, "I am tired of ruling on my own, I need a Queen to stand by my side" and he already knew who it would be, was it that really to guess who or was it as obvious as the kitten in his pocket. 

"Hades, listen to-"

"Enough" Hades snapped out, his voice coming out strong and louder than his brother's and finally had he turned around, forcing himself to face Zeus and look this bastard in the eyes after so long. So long of the feeling of betrayal and loss by his own flesh and blood, so much anger and sadness mixed deep within his chest but Hades proved himself to be strong and keep it together.

"Need I remind you who is the oldest one out of us all, brother?" Hades felt a faint growl build, deep in his chest and before he could stop it, it slipped through for the both of them to hear but he did not regret it.

"Do you need to be reminded who is the stronger one?" Zeus spat back, one good step towards Hades in a way to intimidate him but no, Hades matched that step and took one forward himself to bring himself closer.

"I'd love to see if you really are" Hades didn't hesitate with his reply, a deep breath leaving his lungs, well ready to see if Zeus was really the stronger one and if he wasn't, maybe Hades wouldn't stop, not until he stopped breathing.

"Oh Hades" Zeus's shoulders slumped, "look what she has done to you, picking fights with your blood now?" the anger slipped from Zeus's face just to be replaced by something like pity and now, Hades did not like that. The look of pity disgusted him and what, look what you did to him, what was that suppose to mean, you were giving him a light at the end of the tunnel, a reason to live, to fight.

"Don't you dare speak of her that way, I will rip out your tongue for such insults" he wasn't thinking straight, no Hades was running on anger, he would only need just one reason to go for Zeus's throat. A drop of the hat and he would see if he could make him bleed and how much blood he could make him lose before it was all said and done, and it was all for you, for you only. 

"Remind Athena to learn her place, remind the others as well and do best to remind yourself, Medusa belongs to me, me going for her has no effect on Olympus, so leave us be or you will regret the actions you take, this is your only warning, brother" Hades barely blinked, words spilling out so easily because his mind was made up. His choice already presented to him and it all revolved around you and if he had to threaten a few gods while he was at it, then so be it.

"Hades" Zeus tried again, "don't bother, I am not in the mood" Hades was quick to shut him down, and he left, turning around with a quick spin and he was gone, with a flash of red smoke, Hades was gone.

-|-

"Missa?" I asked, running my fingers through the kitten's soft fur, both feeling and hearing the faint purrs that came from the little thing, while it was more content with stuffing its little face with some wet cat food.

"Yes, do you like that name?" Hades sat by me, on my right side while I kept the kitten in my lap and the small bowl in my hand to keep it near the poor little thing as it ate, completely ignoring us both. 

"Girl or boy?" I answered his question with another, "girl" Hades chuckled from my lack of an answer for his question, something he was probably use to by now right, considering how stubborn I had been. 

"She's cute" she was, small and soft to the touch, she was a real cute one, that I found it hard to keep my hand from petting behind her ear or down her back as the purrs only became louder from the little kitten. 

"Yes she is, isn't she?" Hades leaned in, his right shoulder pressing into the left side of my back, leering a bit over me to look over my shoulder just to watch the kitten in my hands and I didn't fight the small contact. 

"You two are perfect" Hades said, "far too perfect"


	15. Let’s begin

Softs mewls followed me to the kitchen, faint squeaks at Missa's best attempts at meowing, but she still made it her goal to keep up with me in her small sprint, the little pitter patter of her paws on the floor. I had to admit, having this little fluff ball follow me around felt nice, she was cute and I mean really cute, maybe after all this time I really liked something for once. 

"Yes I know" I mumbled, "one second" I knew what she wanted, as her little mewls just got louder, little claws digging into my leg as she only grew more impatient, until finally she was met with her dish. Carefully setting it down by her and instantly, my leg was long forgotten, eating away at her wet cat food, since she was still a kitten I figured the soft stuff first for right now.

Spoiled little thing.

"Happy now?" I scratched the top of her head, just enough to have her ears twitch a few times, not to mention the loud purrs that just rumbled from her chest, so devoted to the food she had all for herself. 

"Entirely" Hades blurted, his voice startling the life out of me, causing my to jerk while Hades had such a grin on his face, truly pleased with his little action, was it still okay if I wanted to smack that smile off his face?

"Will you ever leave?" I arched my brow, "hey now, I thought you liked me" Hades's smile never faded, so confident in the way he stood and leaned against the wall as if this was his own home to begin with.

"Eh, fifty fifty" I motioned my hand as soon as I turned my back to him, just in time to hear a small laugh slip from him, "hurtful".

-|-

Missa turned out to follow Hades as much as she followed me if not a little more because he never bothered to stop her, I found out just how far she was willing to follow him on one evening. Hades mentioned on trying out the bathtub, so I figured okay he was going to check it out or look it over, no I was mistaken once I heard the water running soon after he vanished.

I didn't care nor did I mind but what startled me was the soft mewls I heard from upstairs, towards the bathroom, I followed them naturally but I didn't expect to hear another set of meows. 

But far deeper and...human and oh-

The door was wide open, he hadn't bothered to close it, so I got to see the picture of him in the tub, clothes folded neatly on the counter with his shoes by the tub, Missa neatly tucked into one of his shoes. Her tail whipping back and forth as the small squeaks left her as she seemed so interested in the situation Hades had put himself into just to 'check out' the tub.

"Meow" Hades-

"Mew mew" he replied to Missa and every one of her soft attempts at speaking and oh, my knees nearly buckled, forcing my hand to cover my mouth, I so nearly gave away my position by nearly laughing. It honestly took me off guard, the more Missa meowed and the more Hades repeated it in full bath mode, playing out like some cheap love story and was I suppose to fall in love? 

Maybe I already was.

How could things get any better than this, better than him in my life, how did it get to this and what did I do to possibly deserve this, maybe if my life could only be this, then it wouldn't be so bad, right? Maybe it was time to take him on his offer and go with him, maybe it was time to say yes, leave this world behind and everyone along with it, say goodbye to them all-

Riiiiiiiiing~

Wait-

Riiiiiiiing~

My phone?

Riiiiiiiiing~

The caller ID spelled out Michelle's name, instantly I grabbed it, running down the stairs even though I knew I had been caught but I was still going to try to hide it, no way I would admit spying on him.

Riiiii-

"Yes alright, your majesty...I have answered your call" I smiled, "what do you need?" my poor heart was going, how dare her give away my position like that, I was so caught and he would not let that go.

"Majesty? I honestly never thought you would ever call me that" 

My heart stopped, skidding in its tracks since the voice who answered me, it didn't belong to Michelle, not my friend but on the other hand, I knew who it was, my body recongized it so clearly. My happiness draining from me along with my strength, my knees going, buckling under my weight until I found myself hitting them in a matter of seconds with just the sound of the voice.

"Oh, nothing? What's the matter sweetheart, aren't you wondering why the mortal girl isn't speaking?" the voice continued, rattling me to my core but I couldn't pull away even though I wanted to, I needed to but Michelle...

"Aren't you a little curious?" so vile, "or do you just not care on what I have done to her or what I will do to her" I hated this feeling, I hated that voice, I hated this, I just wanted it to stop and go away. As the tears pricked at my eyes, I felt vulnerable all over again, weak and useless and now I finally realized how much that stupid waitress meant to me, she was my friend.

"Poseidon"


	16. Motivation

My breath was gone, my lungs only stung the more I tried, I couldn't think straight, my body only gave into the fear, I was terrified and so sick, just when I believed it could get better in my own little world. That somehow life could mean something to me, here I was, on the floor back into that pathetic little ball I hated so much, back to being reminded what real fear felt like. 

But instead it wasn't for me, this fear I felt was for her, for the waitress with a cocky attitude, the one who did not deserve this, to be pulled into my shit of a life but she was and had been, all because of me. 

"Listen to me" Hades was trying his best, he truly trying all he could to be my voice of reason, the voice that kept me sane but I couldn't give him what he wanted, how could I give him such a thing. When this innocent girl could very well suffer the same fate as myself, just another victim to the god of the ocean, another tally mark on his board of past and pending women to be. 

"Medusa" he still tried, "please listen" still persisted, "I'll find her" part of me did wish for it to be true but what if we were already late, the damage already done to a point where I couldn't save her from the same pain. 

"Damnit, look at me" his hands latched onto my face, quite literally forcing me to look this god in the eyes all over again, his gaze much more dominant than earlier, stronger and full of anger, while mine only had fear.

"I need to put you somewhere safe" he kept the grip on me, "and I will get Michelle myself but not until I know you are safe" he said to me, his voice felt almost vulnerable, as if somehow he felt some type of pain for himself. 

"I will send you down with Cerberus. he will keep you safe" I felt myself being moved as Hades spoke again, being pulled to my feet by his hands on my arms, tugging me off the kitchen flow in my teary mess.

"No" I choked out, "Michelle, she-"

"Enough" Hades snapped, "this is not up for negaotation, you will stay with Cerberus until this is all over" he put his foot down, reminding me that in fact I was not the one in charge when it came down to it. 

"But she-" I tried to speak again.

"And what of you!" Hades snapped louder this time, stopping suddenly and all too willing to spin around just so I could see his face as his eyes could so nearly bore holes into my head if he truly wanted to. His grip on my arms only growing, getting tighter by the second until he began to back me up, step by step Hades backed me into the nearest wall until my back connected with it. 

"Do you honestly think that you do not deserve to be protected? What if this is some plan to seperate us, what if the moment I am gone, Poseidon finds you and puts his hands on you all over again?" Hades spoke freely. With his fingers digging into my arms in such a way that I was certain he didn't know the pain they were causing but his nails were indeed causing pain. But the image he put in my head hurt far more, feeling Poseidon again in anyway was the thing that kept me up most nights, the undying fear of hearing his voice or feeling his skin against my own.

My own personal hell.

"This could be a lie, just because he has her phone does not mean he has her, what if it is that and I return, you are gone...gone with him" the anger was fading, his booming voice becoming weaker with each word. That fierce emotion rolling off him was seeping through the cracks as the hands that held me started to shake, with his chest heaving just a few times between his words.

"I can't lose you to him, I can't...I can't bear the thought of it" the pain in my arms faded, his hands going slack against my arms until they vanished completely, resting on the wall behind me. The heaving in his chest only growing worse as I felt the pressure of his head resting on my shoulder, even with the faint sounds of his cries, yes I swore he was crying from the sounds he was making.

"I can't bear the thought" yes he was crying, I felt the wetness of his tears begin to sink into my shirt, these tears I felt on my shoulder, they were meant for me, he was so afraid of losing me, that it was bringing a god to shed actual tears.

And finally...

I made my hands move, lifting from my sides and up, sliding my palms against his cheeks to feel the tears that continued to fall against my hands and slide over my fingers, using my hands to lift his chin. Lift his face to my own to be met with something else, something truly only a god could do, for those tears he was crying, well Hades tears were gold, same as his eyes. Pouring from those golden eyes and smearing across his pale face, along with my hands, like something only mortals could dream of and something that truly defined a god. 

A sight to behold and it was just for me, seeing him like this, so vulnerable, so terrified of my safety, he was petrified of what his own brother would do to me and so was I but Hades was here, ready to fight his own flesh and blood. Just for me, ready to risk his life for some waitress because I considered her my friend, oh of course, now I finally understood it all, laid out before me.

I loved him.

My heart stopped, skidding to a halt as yet another golden tear fell.

I loved him.

With every soft whimper he made, my heart only ached more, the constant teasing and knowing smirks only made me like him in a bit of a sense, his promises made me trust him but this, this way he was breaking.

His tears brought my love to the surface, all placed out to bare.

Using my thumb to smear one last tear until my body moved on its own, with my hands still attached to his face, I pulled him closer, Hades only followed my pull and with that, I took what I wanted. Pressing my lips to his own, I kissed the god of the Underworld, his lips wet with his own tears but yet still so soft and warm, I could so easily feel the small shivers that wrecked through him. But the sounds stopped, the whines and whimpers, all gone, like they never existed and he moved in closer, arms fitting around my waist as my back hit the wall again. Only this time, Hades pressed in forward until I felt his body flushed against my own, fitting so perfectly and yet, I felt no fear, no urge to push him away. Only to pull him closer, with my hands fisted in his shirt, I truly tried to bring him closer even though it was impossible but the warmth coming off him, his breath on my skin. His lips, the lips of a god that brought sparks that I never knew I could feel, the way it left me tingling and shaking against his chest, but never once pulling away from him. Until it was Hades who parted from me, twisting his face from my own, purposely hiding it against my neck as most of me wanted to pull him back to continue. 

"What a motivation" Hades laughed, "if I suceed, do I get another like this?" now he was returning to the normal god I knew and I felt relieved, he sounded so sure, like he knew he would win and I needed this reassurance. 

"If you succeed" I licked my lips in a way to taste him again, "you'll have more than just a kiss to come back to" it was the truth, I was pretty sure that this was it, the moment I decided I was ready and I was. I was more than willing to replace the memory of Poseidon with Hades, to be shown how its suppose to feel, ready to forget the pain and replace it all with Hades himself.

"Well.." Hades body tensed against my own, I felt his arms tighten, his breath quicken against my neck, his body becoming hard as stone, I knew his mind was going, his gears twisting, I knew I had won. With the way his body was reacting just to thought of what was to come, I knew Michelle would be fine, because I had just given Hades the best motivation, as he took a deep breath, I had won.

Hades shuddered in pure anticipation, "fuck"


End file.
